Sonic Genesis
by PencilGirl92
Summary: Sonic has never been more than a smart-aleck, speed-loving, carefree hedgehog. Eggman hasn't been more than an evil scientist with too much time on his hands. And life at Mobius has never gotten too complicated… until now, that is. Sequel in progress soon! Reviews very appreciated!
1. The Least of Their Worries

_**BEFORE YOU READ: Just so you know, I'm going retro. So, what that means is, Sonic lives on Mobius and saves captured creatures from the evil clutches of Robotnik, aka "Eggman." That being said, I'm basing this off the original story of Sonic, you know, back on the Sega Genesis? Knuckles is there, and so is Tails. Amy will be there, don't worry. I'm including Cream and Rouge. But none of that 3-D stuff happened. (I'm only including Rouge for her awesome personality… and a little for her love interest with Knuckles...but don't worry, I'll introduce her because she's not an original friend of the bunch.) Sure, I base most of the characteristics and attitudes of the characters off of what I've played, including the 3-D games, and what I've watched in Sonic X, but don't be upset if I take a few liberties. After all, no traits were really established in those first games. So… keeping in mind that Sonic's past has never been more than facing a pathetic look-alike robot along with other machines of Eggman's, let the story begin…**_

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Chapter 1: The Least of Their Worries

"Angel Island… the resting place of the biggest emerald in the world! …A girl can't resist such a jewel, especially a girl like me!" Wings flapped silently as the animalistic creature hovered above the hovering island. "But how to get rid of that guard?"

.

Mobius's sun rose, just like every other day. The moon was concealed in the bright blue sky, vanishing as if it was never there. _"Soooooooooooonnnnnnnnnniiiii iiiiiiiiiic!"_ rang out through the air like every other day. "My life is a bore, but at least Amy's chase brings some excitement," Sonic shrugged. He looked past the green hills of the place he called home and saw that the pink hedgehog was advancing toward him. "Well, better get going!" And with that, he took off, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust behind him.

"Ugh! Sonic!" Amy was dragging her hammer behind her. "Sonic! I swear I'll catch you one of these—Oh, who am I kidding? First of all, he can't hear me!" She put her hammer down and sat with her head in her hands. "And I'll never catch up to his sonic speed." She sighed and smiled, lost in a dreamland, "That's what I love about him."

Meanwhile, Miles, or "Tails" to his friends, was working hard on a faster, more powerful plane for Sonic. "What's up, Tails?" he zoomed in.

"If we've got to deal with Dr. Robotnik, we've got to keep up with his machines," Tails did not look up from his work. He continued twisting in the next screw.

"Come on, man! Eggman is no one to worry about!"

"You know he hates it when you call him that," Tails finally turned around to face his friend.

"All the more reason to, little buddy!" With a laugh, Sonic flew out, as quickly as he came in.

Tails smiled. _Don't worry, Sonic. This baby'll be done in no time!_

"Tails, why don't you come up for dinner? Aren't you hungry?" The fox turned to see a tiny, soft-spoken rabbit in the doorway.

"Yeah, Cream. I'll be right out. Just as soon as I'm done attaching the last part."

"You work pretty hard on those flying machines, Tails. Don't you ever get a break?"

"Nope! Sonic never takes a break, and neither should I!"

"Hmm… Well, come up soon. Or your supper will get cold."

"Don't worry. I'll be up in a sec."

Cream went back up, out of the cramped workshop and into the open outside air. _Amy's still looking for Mr. Sonic, I guess. That's okay. I'll set up everything to eat._

.

"This guard isn't moving! Does he even eat? Is he alive? Maybe I should take a closer look…" Gliding down gracefully, the creature stepped onto the grass. _Hmm… He's staying completely still… Maybe… he's a statue?_ She stepped forward, slowly, one step at a time.

The guard twitched. _Someone's here. I can sense it._ Closer… closer… "Begone!" the echidna leapt from his spot and tackled the intruder, a tall white bat. "Who are you?"

"Well, well, quite the violent one, aren't you? A little hot-tempered?" She pushed him off of her. "Obviously… If you dared to hit a girl."

"Leave this place! Why are you here?"

"Hmph! You don't deserve to know after that stunt."

"Grr… I'll strike you again if you—"

"Temper, temper," the bat waved her finger an inch from Knuckles's face, which twisted into a scowl. "I won't disturb your little rest anymore, mkay?" She turned and started to walk off, then looked over her shoulder, "The name's Rouge, by the way." She flew off. "See you around, sugar!"

"That bat was after something…" Knuckles growled. "And I have no doubt that something was the Master Emerald."

.

"Mm! Something smells good!" was Sonic's greeting. Then he shoveled his food and chowed down. "This is delicious!"

"Thanks, Sonic…" Amy grinned. "I made it myself!"

"Why don't we bring some up to Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked. The group stopped eating and stared at her. "What?" She looked around at them, who uncomfortably put down their utensils. "He's up there all day, and I don't doubt he gets kind of lonely."

"That's the way he plays, Cream." Sonic shrugged. "That's just the way he is."

The others nodded in agreement.

"But he needs to eat," Cream urged.

"He doesn't even like us," Tails pointed out. "He thinks Sonic is a menace!"

"Yeah, I'll show him a menace if he ever insults my Sonic like that again!" Amy grasped her hammer and gave it a swing.

Cream turned to her Chao friend, Cheese, who shrugged.

"He's hot-tempered, not to mention no fun at all," Sonic grinned. "That's why he doesn't fit in with us. We're fun-loving!"

"Sure…" Cream forced a smile to equal her friends'. "Sure."

.

"If it's that bat again, I swear—!" Knuckles tightened his fists and glared at the approaching figure in the air. "The bunny?"

"Hi, Mr. Knuckles!" Cream smiled happily as she landed with Cheese.

"What do you want?" Knuckles snarled.

"I thought you might be hungry." The tiny rabbit held out a boxed supper to the red echidna.

Knuckles was somewhat shocked. "Wh-Why?"

"I don't know, people just get hungry."

"No. Why are you giving me this?"

"Oh!" Cream laughed. "Because you're a friend, silly."

Knuckles looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Isn't there some saying… Hmm… I've heard Tails use it before… Ah-ha! The enemy of an enemy… something like that. Since you're the enemy of Dr. Robotnik, doesn't that put you on our side?"

"Um… I guess." Knuckles scratched the back of his head.

"Well, enjoy your supper! Amy wants me back home at a decent hour, and it's getting pretty late. Bye-bye, Mr. Knuckles!"

.

"Hey! Eggman! Lay off!" Sonic called.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?! My name is Dr. Robotnik you good-for-nothing rodent!" The doctor pressed a button on his hovering orb and another batch of robots came at Sonic.

"You know, these robots are getting to be a bore!"

"Yeah!" Tails agreed behind the control panel of his newest vehicle. "I'm keeping up with your updates! Face it, you'll never win, Robotnik!"

"I'll show you!" the doctor yelled. "I'll show you and your blue friend!"

_What's going on here?_ Rouge flew closer to see the battle. _Hmm… Interesting. Those robotics are using the power of a jewel. I didn't know that jewels had that kind of power!_

"Sonic, what's he doing?" Tails quivered.

"Ha, ha, ha! I've got a Chaos Emerald on my side! It's power can destroy you!

"What?!" Tails's eyes grew wide. "A Chaos Emerald?! Sonic!"

"Don't worry, Tails, I'm on it!" He ran across Tails's machine and jumped up at Robotnik. "Hey Eggman, give up the Emerald or else!"

"Ha, ha, ha! Even if you get this Emerald, there are plenty more where that came from! You have no idea what we have in store for you, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"'We'?" Tails noticed. "Who else is with him?"

"Alright, Emerald, show Sonic your power!"

An explosion, then Sonic was thrown back, along with Tails and his machine.

.

"Robotnik… used to be no problem…" Sonic huffed. "I didn't know… the Chaos Emeralds had that kind of power…"

"You've used them to turn into SuperSonic," Tails reminded him.

"Yeah, all together! Not separate."

"But why did he say 'we'?"

"What do you mean?"

"He said, 'what we have in store for you.'"

"You're right! He did."

"Who else was he talking about?"

"I hope Knuckles hasn't joined up with him again."

"Knuckles is against him, Sonic," Cream interjected.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

.

Mobius's sun set, just like any other day. The moon reappeared in the clear black sky as the stars came out of hiding. Sonic leaned back in the grass. His dull day had gotten a bit less dull. _Careful what you wish for, Sonic. It might just come true. Now it seems that Dr. Robotnik's robots are the least of our worries…_

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_**So there you have it… the first chapter of Sonic's new…erm old… adventure. You got introduced to the retro-styled characters, which aren't that different than what you'd expect, I hope. Sonic is care-free and fun-loving, Tails will do anything for Sonic to appreciate him, Amy will do anything for him to love her, Knuckles is the enigma atop Angel Island, Cream is the polite innocent rabbit with her Chao friend, and Rouge… well, she's a smooth-talking jewel-obsessed bat. And Robotnik, or "Eggman" to his enemies, seems like he has more than Metal Sonic up his sleeve.**_

_**So stay tuned for drama, a sprinkle of romance, and some puzzling characters and betrayals… plus the new spin on the Chaos Emeralds (they have elements!)… Of course, it all can't happen at once, so keep reading! And reviews are appreciated!**_


	2. Angel Above

Chapter 2: Angel Above

"Sonic! Guess what?" Tails hovered above him, blocking his sunlight.

"What's wrong, Tails?" Sonic sat up and watched his copter tails spin endlessly.

"Nothing's wrong! I found a chaos emerald!"

"What?!" This time, he sprang straight up. "A Chaos Emerald? No way! Where'd you find it?"

"In the forest there. I hope you don't mind that I went by myself…"

"Of course not, Tails. That's great!" Sonic looked at his friend, who landed, exhausted. "Um… where is it?"

"I'm running tests on it!"

"Tests? What kind of tests?"

"Well, obviously it has some electronical robotical power… that's how Eggman's using it, at least."

"Electriconical… um robobotical…?"

"Close enough. Come on! I'll show you!"

.

"Check it out, Sonic!" Tails was beaming. "Along with these tests, I also scanned it to try to determine what kind of power is radiating from it!"

"What does that do?" Amy inquired.

"Amy! What are you doing here?" Sonic was shocked at her presence.

"Hehe! I snuck up on you!" She wrapped her arms around him. "Now the two of us can listen to Tails."

"I don't think so!" He pushed her off of him. "Tails is talking business here. No nosiness! Get out of here, Amy!"

"Hmph! Fine! But I'll be waiting outside for you, Sonic!"

Tails shook his head. "Anyway, now I can track other emeralds."

"That's pretty cool, Tails!" Sonic looked at the handheld tracker, while Tails smiled proudly. "Hm… what's that red dot mean?"

"That's the emerald in here. It senses it."

"What about that one?" Sonic pointed to a less obvious red dot.

"Huh? There's another one close by!"

"Really? Then what are we waiting for? Let's go, buddy!"

The two of them ran off to look for the emerald.

.

"Chaos Emeralds, huh? Very interesting. They're more convenient to carry than that huge gem that echidna is guarding." Rouge paced back and forth. "Still… that Master Emerald is a beaut. Decisions, decisions…" She jumped up and hovered, watching that green jewel in the distance. "Well, no sense just sitting here. I'll find a smaller one for now. After all, I can sense the treasure close by."

.

"Honestly, I leave my spot for one minute, and he's already gone!" Amy tapped her foot in frustration.

"Amy, Mr. Sonic will be back," Cream was holding onto her Chao friend.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Hey, maybe if you help find some Chaos Emeralds, Mr. Sonic will pay more attention to you!"

"Hey, good idea, Cream! Sonic won't be able to resist a girl that can do some of his work! I'm on it!"

"Good luck, Amy!" Cream waved. She turned and flapped her ears, ascending to the island above them. "Good morning, Mr. Knuckles!"

"You again?" Knuckles groaned. "What do you want?"

"Sorry to bother you…" Cream lowered her head. "I can leave if you want."

Knuckles looked up at her sad expression. "Nah, you can stay. Just don't bother me."

"Alright, Mr. Knuckles!" She sat down next to him and kicked her feet back and forth. "Mr. Knuckles?"

"What?"

"Why do you sit and guard the Master Emerald?" She looked up at him.

He continued to gaze forward. "It is my duty."

"Your duty? But don't you ever get a break?"

"No."

"Not even to have a little fun?"

"Fun is not needed. I have a job to do."

Cream sighed and looked forward. "Did you ever try?"

"Try what?"

"To have fun."

"No."

"Why not?"

Knuckles glared at her. "You're really starting to annoy, you know."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." She looked down at her feet.

Knuckles growled and looked forward.

_Poor Mr. Knuckles. He has no freedom to play. I'm sure he's bored up here. Maybe Sonic's right, maybe he's meant to be alone. Still… it's really sad. I feel bad for him. I want to at least be able to talk to him._ "Mr. Knuckles?"

A groan, "What?"

"Do you know anything about the Chaos Emeralds?"

Knuckles snapped his head towards her. "Servants of the Master Emerald. Yes, I do."

"Apparently, Dr. Robotnik is using one for electronic power… or something. Tails was telling me that it caused an explosion that almost wiped them out."

"Amazing!" Knuckles rubbed his chin and pondered it. "Such power… from only one. How could that be?"

"Do you have any powers… being the guardian and all?"

Knuckles stood and turned to look at the giant emerald. "Sometimes, I think I do. But it may just be in my head."

"But you can control the Master Emerald, right?"

"I guess you could say that."

"That's pretty cool, Mr. Knuckles. Maybe you can help us out sometime."

Knuckles turned to her.

"Well, I got to go. Bye, Mr. Knuckles! I'll see you later!" And she flapped off.

"Help?" Knuckles shook his head. "I'm sure that cocky Sonic would claim he has everything under control!"

.

"It's out of control!" Sonic hit the device against his palm.

"No, don't! It's not out of control!" Tails waved his hands frantically.

"It says we're right on top of it!"

"Maybe it's underground?"

"This is insane, Tails! Let's just go back."

"Hi, Tails! Hi, Mr. Sonic! What are you doing here?" Cream descended.

"Hey, Cream… wait… where'd you come from?"

"Up there!" she pointed at the island up in the sky.

Tails and Sonic glanced at each other. "Told you it wasn't nuts!" Tails put his hands on his hips.

"I told you it wasn't underground!" Sonic retorted.

"Um… what are you talking about?" Cream looked at them.

"We're gonna go get the Chaos Emerald!"

"Hang on tight, Sonic!" Tails grasped his hands and spun his tails. They started to rise up closer and closer to the island.

"Can I help?" Cream flew beside them.

"Sure." Sonic grinned. "Let's go, Tails!"

"I can only… go so fast…" Tails huffed.

Tails was utterly exhausted, but that wasn't about to stop him from getting Sonic to where he needed to be. "Tails, you okay?" Sonic looked up at his friend as he gasped for breath.

"Just a bit more…"

They landed, and Tails's tails flopped to the ground. "Way to hang in there, bud. Maybe next time we should stick with the plane."

"Yeah…" Tails sighed. He stood up and looked around. "Um…"

"It's been awhile since we've been up here, huh, buddy?"

"Yeah… I have a bad feeling there won't be a friendly welcoming committee."

"We just can't get caught. Let's move, get the emerald, and leave. That no-fun, self-proclaimed guardian of the Master Emerald doesn't even have to notice."

"Right." Tails nodded, and they went forward, stepping in the soft grass of Angel Island.

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"Angel Island." Robotnik grinned. "You can go, if you'd like."

"Certainly, Doctor." The hooded creature sneered. "I'll go and I'll make that echidna wish he were never born!"

"Perfect. He deserves a visit from you to put him in a world of pain!"

"Oh, I can guarantee that, Doctor."

.

"Who's there?" The red echidna stood. "Show yourself!"

"Chill out, Knucklehead, it's just us!" Sonic waved.

"Great, as if my day wasn't bad enough!"

"Hey, I'm gonna take that as an insult!"

"Good! It was meant as one!"

"Hey, Mr. Sonic, Mr. Knuckles… please calm down… Why can't we just look for that emerald?" Cream grabbed Sonic's hand.

"What do you want with the emerald?"

"Not the Master Emerald, you paranoid stick-in-the-mud. A Chaos Emerald." Sonic groaned.

Before Knuckles could retort, Cream jumped in. "You said that the emeralds were servants of the Master Emerald, right? Do you think the Master Emerald can help?"

Knuckles looked at her. "Help?" There was that word again.

"Hmph! I think Tails's tracker is all we need! Let's go!" Sonic sped away.

"Right behind you!" Tails called as he followed.

"Wait up!" Cream lagged behind.

"Hmph. Just as I thought. He thinks he can handle everything by himself, that conceited joke of a hedgehog…" Suddenly there was a blast behind him. He turned. "What the…?"

"Well, well, well. Guardian of the Master Emerald, we meet at last." A hooded figure advanced toward him from behind the emerald."

"Don't lay a finger on that emerald, stranger!" He stepped forward and put up his fists. "Who are you?"

"You don't need to know who I am." His mouth had fangs, but that was not what he focused on. Sparks and bolts of electricity were coming from the mysterious cloaked figure. "I just needed to make sure it was really you, echidna. Now… come with me!"

A jolt, then a blackout.

.

_**Wow… sparks are really flying, huh? (Ha ha, anyway…) Well, stay tuned for the next "episode" to see what happens! Obviously, Eggman isn't working alone… but what is this mysterious cloaked being? You know, a story makes a major twist once you put the mysterious cloaked guy in it! Ha, anyway… reviews appreciated!**_


	3. Echidnapped!

Chapter 3: Echidnapped!

"The Chaos Emerald!" came the simultaneous call. Both flying animals approached it quickly, and both landed their hand upon it at the same time.

"Hey! That's mine!" the bat squealed.

"No way! I need it!" the fox yelped.

"What's going on, Tails?" Sonic shook his head. "Playing tug-o-war?"

"Tell your little friend to hand this thing over! Ladies first, you know!" Rouge pulled harder, bringing Tails forward a bit.

"Excuse me, Ms. Bat, but we need it. Please let us have it!" Cream asked politely.

Rouge lost her grip and landed on her back. "Just because you said the magic words. But hear you me! I'm a treasure hunter! So I expect some treasure in return!"

"How 'bout you take the even bigger _Master_ Emerald?" Sonic hinted.

"Mr. Sonic…" Cream started.

"No can do. That echidna has his watchful eye on me! Not like I don't appreciate the attention, but getting too close will be a bad idea for me!"

"Well, that's all we have to give you," Sonic shrugged.

"Fine!" Rouge flew up and away to the shrine.

"Anyway, now that she's gone, we have to find the other emeralds." Tails looked down at the grey one in his hand. "Hm…"

"What's up, Tails?" Sonic leaned in.

"Well, it's just that—"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a scream pierced their ears and interrupted their thoughts.

"What was that?" Sonic stood up.

"It's gone! My precious emerald is gone!" Rouge cried.

"What? I guess that Knucklehead isn't doing a very good job of protecting it! Where is he?"

"He's gone too! And there's nothing but rubble!"

"Rubble?"

They hurried to the place that used to hold the Master Emerald and the echidna. The bat was right… nothing but rubble. "What happened here?" Cream gasped.

"Whatever it was, it doesn't look good…" Sonic shook his head.

"Where's Knuckles? Is he alright?" Tails asked Rouge.

"I hope so…" Cream whispered.

.

"So tell me, echidna… what is this strange power you have? You can communicate with the emerald, can you not?" the cloaked figure was surveying a monitor on a long desk of buttons and screens in front of a wall with Knuckles attached to it.

"What makes you think I'll answer any of your questions?" Knuckles tried to wriggle free from the clasps that held him onto the board.

The figure pressed a button, and a shock went through Knuckles's spine. He clenched his teeth, refusing to show a pained expression.

"Is that your best shot?"

"No. Using my best shot now would be senseless." He peered at the monitor. "Your power… it comes from your ancestry, does it not?"

Knuckles was silent. He glared at the hooded creature with more malice than he's ever shown in his life.

"It would do you good to answer me." The button was pressed again, and the same shock zipped through. "That's alright. I know my answers. These shocks give them to me. You see, echidna, I can analyze your DNA and other particles within you. And they are all pointing to one thing…" He turned, one eye showing beneath his hood, an eye glowing with a crimson light. "Your connection to the Master Emerald."

.

"Is he in danger?" Cream bit her lip.

"I wouldn't worry about him, Cream," Sonic shrugged. "I'm sure he's just fine."

"But this rubble doesn't look very good, Sonic… I mean… what could have caused this?" Tails analyzed the stones lying around.

"A _sonic_ boom?" Sonic chuckled.

"You are such a nuisance, you know that?" Rouge snarled.

"You're worse than Knucklehead."

"I don't know, Sonic. This place is in shambles… It would take more than breaking the sound barrier to make something like this!" Tails continued.

"Fine, why don't we talk to Eggman about it? He's always been after the Master Emerald!"

"Alright. He's sure to know what's going on."

.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles's eyes were wide as he watched the cloaked creature fiddle with the buttons. He was genuinely afraid, though he would never admit to it. "What do you want from me?"

"I want your powers." He didn't stop his work. "I want to be in total control of the Master Emerald."

"That's impossible! You could only dream of it!"

"Ha, ha, ha! This machine I have you hooked to would beg to differ. You see, echidna, all I have to do is take the power out of you, and plant it into me."

"You're mad!"

"No, sir, I'm a genius!"

"It won't work!"

"Yes, it will." He pulled a lever, and the platform Knuckles was on crackled with electricity.

The bolts jumped at him and crawled over him. He tried to keep in his pain, but it was more than he had ever experienced before. He cried out.

"Ha, ha, ha! It's working!"

"N-No! How can it be?" Knuckles opened one eye to see a chart on the computer monitor. It was gaining power, and he was losing it. "No!" He howled and shook, but his efforts were in vain. Nothing could break him free, and he was getting weaker by the second. "Stop this!"

"Never! Your power shall be mine!"

.

"Don't feed us lies, Eggman! We know you know where Knuckles is!" Sonic glared at the doctor, who was shrugging innocently.

"I don't know what you know about what I don't know, Sonic." Robotnik grinned.

"Oh yes you do know what we know that you do know, we know!"

Tails scratched his ear. Robotnik retorted, "I surely don't know what it is I know that you know I know that you know, I know."

Cream tilted her head. Sonic started, "Well we know—"

"Would you give it a rest? I want my emerald!" Rouge stomped her foot.

"_Your_ emerald? I tell you, that emerald is mine! Locked away safe, it is!" Robotnik crossed his arms.

"_Now_ we're getting somewhere!" Sonic grinned.

"Whoops… Still! You won't know where! And I know nothing about your red-headed friend!"

"We know you know!"

"I don't think you know anything!"

"I know you know but because I know you know that I can't know!"

"Sonic…" Tails placed a hand on his arm, eyes fixed at a doorway.

"Not now, Tails, it's a battle of wits here."

"Sonic, look!" Tails pointed.

The blue hedgehog looked where his friend pointed, at a doorway in the hallway that was blinking with astounding light. "What's going on in there?"

"Surely I don't know!" Robotnik blocked their view.

"Don't pull that crap! I know you kno—"

"Sonic!" Tails pulled him along.

"Aw, it was just getting good!"

"Hey, get back here, hedgehog!" Robotnik ran after them.

But he was no match for Sonic's speed. He now pulled Tails and Cream along by their wrists. Rouge, in the meantime, left silently. They made it to the door and peeked in. "Knuckles!" Sonic gasped.

Knuckles was groaning in pain as the sparks circled around him and the bolts jumped across him. The monitor was flashing and the cloaked figure was grinning, his fangs in full view of all.

"What is he doing to him?" Cream turned away.

"I don't know… but it can't be good!" Sonic leapt out. "Hey, Riding Hood!"

The figure turned. "Well, well… company…"

Knuckles opened an eye, but could barely concentrate as his sight was beginning to blur.

"Hm…" Sonic looked at the display of buttons. "What do all these buttons do?" He hopped on the desk and ran across.

"Hey, you troublemaker!" the cloaked thing shouted. "Get off!"

The platform was moved around and the pieces holding Knuckles were opened, throwing him against the ground, still jolting with electricity.

"You stupid hedgehog! You'll pay for that!"

"Guys! Get Knuckles out of here! I'll take care of this guy!" Sonic tightened his hands into fists.

"Oh, no you won't!" Robotnik stepped in.

"Doctor!" the other enemy grinned.

"Eggman!" Sonic turned.

He held up the yellow emerald. "Take him out, Robrat!"

"My pleasure!" Electricity radiated from his body and his cloak blew off. It was now apparent that he was a rat with half robotic parts, including that scarlet eye. He brought his robot hand forward, the left one, bursting with sparks and more electricity. "Time to meet your maker!"

"Don't think so!" Sonic ran up the wall and flipped behind him, but the rat quickly turned and grasped him with his electrified robot arm. "Aaaaaaaaack!"

"Sonic!" Tails cried. He ran at the rat and tackled him, but the rat let Sonic go and grabbed the fox. "Aaaaack!"

Cream shivered by Knuckles. "Mr. Knuckles…" she whispered. "Wake up…"

"That echidna will not wake." The rat pressed a button on the desk and inserted his hand in a small hole. "And now all of his power is mine!"

"Tails, we have to get out of here…" Sonic struggled to his feet. Tails did the same. "Come on, Cream! Hurry!"

"Stop them!" Robotnik called to his robots. But even a weakened Sonic was too fast, and they made it out of there.

"Mr. Knuckles…" Cream's eyes welled up with tears.

"I'd love to know what happened." Sonic looked down at the red rodent. "What happened to you in there, buddy?"

"He's not going to wake up!" Cream's tears ran freely down her face as her small Chao tried to comfort her.

Tails looked up at Sonic hopelessly.

"Come on buddy…" Sonic placed a hand on his fist. "Wake up…"


	4. The Mighty Master

Chapter 4: The Mighty Master

"I… am not… your buddy…" Knuckles grimaced as he tried to sit up.

"Dude! You're alive!" Sonic jumped up and ran circles around him.

"I'm so relieved!" Cream hugged the injured echidna, who pushed her off him.

"That rat! He took most of my energy…" Knuckles moaned.

"Be thankful you're not dead," Tails helped him up. "You okay to walk?"

"I don't need your help!" Knuckles pulled away, then faltered.

"Funny," Sonic crossed his arms, "You sure looked like you needed it when we saved your sorry butt!"

"Mr. Sonic…" Cream tried.

"Hmph! I was fine!" Knuckles growled.

"You sure? He would've taken all your energy if not for me!" Sonic glared.

"Ha! Someone's full of himself!"

"Says the one who claims he needs no help from us!"

"Guys…" Tails cut in.

But he was ignored. "Hm, I'll remember that next time you try to steal the emerald!"

"For the last time, Knucklehead, it wasn't us!" Sonic and Knuckles were inches from each other now.

"Yeah, sure. You're always planning something, you menace!"

"Jerk!"

"Arrogant pest!"

"Stuck-up outsider!"

"That's it!" Knuckles lunged at him, knocking him to the ground, but he sprang up with his speed and whipped around him. Knuckles held out a fist, which knocked him square in the gut. Sonic toppled over and groaned, but then he jumped up again and tackled him.

"Please…" Cream tried to interject. "Shouldn't we focus on Dr. Robotnik?"

"As soon as this nuisance learns his lesson!" Knuckles pounded his fists, but Sonic blocked them with his own hands.

"More like you learn yours!" Sonic thrust the echidna off him.

"Please… stop…" Cream moved toward them. "Please…"

Knuckles shoved Sonic backwards, making him fall on the innocent rabbit.

"Cream!" Sonic stood up. "You okay?"

Cream struggled to sit up. "Yes… I'm fine…"

"See what you did, you stupid— Huh?" Knuckles was gone. "I guess that's the thanks we get. Oh, well. Come on, guys. This was a stupid waste of time."

"You can say that again," Tails agreed.

.

"Don't worry… it wasn't a complete waste of time." Robrat glanced at his robot hand. "I gained much power today! Now, we may test it on the emerald itself." He raised his hand to the Master Emerald. "Oh, great emerald, hear me!" The jewel shined. "Yes! Now, we will be unstoppable!"

"Indeed. Our plan worked." Robotnik rubbed his balding head. "I can barely believe it myself."

"Well it's true, Doctor. You have succeeded."

.

Knuckles looked at the remains of his home. "It ain't a pretty picture, is it?" the bat descended. "Thanks to you, my emerald's gone!"

"It's not your emerald!" Knuckles exploded. "That stupid rat…" He clenched his fists. "He will pay…"

"You know, I may just be an onlooker… but I think you owe that Sonic character a thank you."

"Excuse me?"

"I went running to them when I noticed the emerald and you were gone. That fox looked worried, but not more than that rabbit."

"The fox?"

"Then Sonic ran off to find that Robotnik character. It got confusing, but he held his ground."

"What are you talking about?"

"Then that fox noticed your room. And Sonic and the rest of them risked their lives to save yours." Rouge ended her narration. "I may not be a very polite bat, but I'll send out thank you's when necessary." With that, she left.

Knuckles looked again at the rubble. "Hmph, Sonic…"

.

"You WHAT?!" Amy came closer to Sonic. "Well are you alright, Sonic?"

"I'm fine!" Sonic gave a thumbs up. "That robo-rat gave me as much of a beating as Knucklehead did!"

Tails glanced away, _That's not how I remember it, Sonic. You got electrocuted!_

"Mr. Sonic and Tails were very brave!" Cream smiled.

"Yep, that's me!" Sonic grinned.

"Heh… I'm just a sidekick…" Tails scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, what's that Eggman up to now?" Amy picked up her hammer. "Hurting my Sonic like that! I'll show him! I'll—Were you expecting company?" She put her hammer down.

"Like who?" Sonic asked.

"Knuckles."

"Knucklehead?!" Sonic looked where Amy pointed. Sure enough, Knuckles was walking toward them. "Well I'll be…"

But he didn't make it. Robotnik crash landed his ship right between him and the rest of the group.

"Eggman!" Tails gasped.

"And his little rat friend!" Sonic added.

"Really?" Amy brought up her hammer and charged at them. "Well, I'd like to give them a piece of my mind!"

"Wait, Amy!" Sonic sighed. "Ugh, whatever."

"Sonic… is that…?" Tails pointed.

"The Master Emerald!" It was coming out of the ship, hovering above Robrat.

"You robot wretch!" Knuckles was calling. "Hand over that emerald!"

"It's under my control now, you useless echidna!" the rat called back. He raised his robot arm and it sparkled.

"No! It can't be!"

"Feel the mighty power of the Master Emerald!"

Knuckles looked up at it in stunned shock. "No! Stop this! Master Emerald, hear me!" He cried out and clutched his stomach. "Ack… my power…"

"Knuckles get out of there!" Tails called.

Knuckles was still staring at the emerald, the jewel he was sworn to protect. "I'll protect you still, Master Emerald!" He stood tall. "I'll protect you from this evil!" He raised both his hands. "Master Emerald, return to me!"

"That stubborn looney! He's going to get himself killed!" Sonic groaned.

"Sonic! Stay out of there!" Tails grabbed his hand.

"Come on, buddy. No need to worry about me!"

"Sonic, look!" Tails pointed. The Master Emerald was radiating powerful light, brighter than the sun. "Knuckles! Get out of there!"

Knuckles ran toward them, and they hurried away. "Wait!" Sonic turned back. "Amy!"

"What did that little brat do now?" Knuckles snarled.

Sonic ran back and saw Amy on the ground, hurt. "Amy!" He jumped down to her and lifted her up. "Why do you always have to be the damsel in distress?"

He jumped back up and ran off with the others, away from the disaster that was ready to befall all of Mobius.

.

_**Hi, long time no commentary! Ha, ha! You enjoying the story? Review! Not enjoying it? Review! (And I'll try to fix it if it's in my power… "Oh, great Master Emerald, grant me this power…" Ha ha, just kidding…) **_


	5. The Plan

Chapter 5: The Plan

"The Master Emerald is now under the control of that pesky rat!" Knuckles was infuriated.

"Amy… you alright?" Sonic looked at her.

"And now, the shrine is nothing but rubble!"

"Amy… wake up…"

"I swear! Robotnik will pay for this!"

"Eggman's gonna pay!"

"At least they're on the same side…" Tails shrugged.

"Aw, Sonic! You care about me!" Amy blinked and smiled weakly up at him.

"…No!" He stood. "Just don't scare me like that!" Sonic pouted.

"He would have just missed your meals!" Tails teased.

"That rat has to be stopped!" Knuckles concluded.

"Well of course, but how?" Sonic pondered.

"Yeah, even Sonic couldn't handle him!" Amy sighed.

"You say that as if it's a shock." Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"Don't start, Knucklehead!"

"Tails!" Sonic's lightbulb went off, it seemed, "I have a plan!"

"A plan?" Tails leaned in to hear his whisper.

"Hey! Shouldn't I be a part of this?! It's the Master Emerald at stake here!" Knuckles roared.

"Oh, you want our help?" Amy asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, Rosey!"

"Yeah, you're in on it too, Knuckles." Sonic winked. "You get to be the bait."

"The bait! No way!"

Sonic gave a fake sigh and shrugged, "Then I guess you don't care what happens to that Master Emerald… Oh, well."

Knuckles scowled. "Fine!"

"Good. Now here's the plan…"

.

"Doctor… I think you have a serious rodent problem…" Robrat sighed.

"Is it that Sonic again? I swear…" Robotnik looked out his window.

It wasn't Sonic. It was Knuckles, and he looked angry.

"Get rid of him."

"Yes, Doctor." Robrat hurried out.

"Hmph! You will return that Emerald to me!" the echidna yelled.

"As if!" The rat called upon the gem. "Ancient Emerald! Oh, Master of Chaos!"

It was as if an earthquake had hit, but it was more than just on the ground. The air itself seemed to shake as the shockwaves poured from the Emerald. "Master Emerald! Return to me!" Knuckles cried.

"It's useless, echidna!"

Knuckles held up his hands, resisting the pain deep in his soul. "Master Emerald! Assist!" He grimaced.

"Sonic, we have to move now!" Tails insisted. "Knuckles will get himself killed if he keeps this up!"

"Hmph! Why does he always have to be so stubborn?" Sonic sighed. "Ah, well. Let's go! Amy, you're up!"

"Okey dokey!" Amy raised her hammer and charged behind the rat. "Take this, you metal-head!"

"What the-?" Robrat turned. He hadn't noticed Tails's airship behind him, and now Amy charged out from it. "Master Emerald!"

Suddenly, Amy was merely hovering in the thick air. "Augh! What's going on?"

Knuckles took a step forward. "The Master Emerald will never cause the destruction you intend it to!"

"Oh, really?"

"What's he doing?!" Sonic asked.

"That wasn't part of the plan?" Tails asked.

"He's taunting him! Knuckles stop!" Sonic sighed. "Besides, that's usually my job…"

"You won't succeed, Robrat!" Knuckles yelled, still walking toward the hovering robot.

Amy was released, and Robrat came slowly to the ground. "Alright, echidna… Are you challenging me? Do you not see the ultimate power I have embraced while you have just hidden it from yourself and the world!"

"The Master Emerald is not a weapon of destruction! It's a tool for peace! For quelling the chaos of the emeralds that are its servants!"

"Naïve fool! You are foolish to think that way. Do you not see the destruction it has already accomplished?" It was true, trees were bare and desolation seemed eminent. Even fire trickled on some of the remaining greenery. He stretched out his robotic hand. "And I will show you personally!"

"Tails! Fire!" Sonic called at a distance. Tails let off a missile, aimed directly at the rat.

Knuckles was meanwhile being crushed by the incredible force radiating from the emerald. Robrat snickered above him. "You don't even know the true strength of this jewel." The pressure was lifted. "Radiation, such as that, is granted from this Master! As is fire," glaring fire wrapped around Knuckles, "earth," the earth trembled beneath him, "water and ice," water doused the fire while he shivered as frost formed across him, "vines," the earth rose vines that wrapped around him and tightened, "wind," a sharp wind knocked him from the vines, "and… _electricity!_" Knuckles looked up at from where the bolt would come, but by that time, the missile hit into Robrat, sending him rocketing away.

"Knuckles! The emerald!" Sonic was beside him now, having traveled as the missile did.

"My power is gone…" Knuckles struggled to get up. "He was right…" He was breathing heavily. "He's taken everything…"

"Only if you let him, buddy!" Knuckles glared at him, but he winked. "Try once more. Your stubbornness has to be good for something. I'm seeing it right now as determination!"

Knuckles locked eyes with him, then looked up at the bright emerald above him. "Master Emerald, hear me!" The pain again dug into his soul, as if penetrating his very core. "Master… Emerald…" he huffed. "Hear… my… call!" He shut his eyes tight, focusing on the emerald so as not to focus on the worsening pain. "Master… Emerald!"

Sonic and Tails gasped. "Knuckles! It's fighting for you!" Sonic smiled and watched his friend. "Keep going!" The emerald was flickering.

"No! Fools! It's mine!" Robrat sent out his energy, but it dissipated around the emerald.

Knuckles stood up straight, despite his pain. He raised his hands and shouted out to the emerald, and the emerald descended slowly to him. "Finish that rat!"

Robrat suddenly shook as an electric charge coursed through him. "No! What have you done to me?! What have you done?!"

"No!" Robotnik yelled from his hover machine. He glared at the echidna and then at the others, one by one. "This isn't the end Sonic!" He stared at the blue hedgehog, who just smirked. "Not by a long shot!" He quickly hovered away.

Knuckles gave a small smile, then waivered, but Sonic came beside him and helped hold him up. "You did good, pal!" his friend smiled. "I knew you had it in you."

"What a fight!" Tails had landed and hurried over to them. "Wow, Knuckles! You're amazing!"

Amy shrugged as she caught up to the others. "It wasn't _that_ great." She looked over at Sonic, who had Knuckles arm around his shoulders as he guided him. "But I guess I gotta give you _some_ credit, Knucklehead."

Cream giggled from Tails's airship. "Thanks for helping us out, Mr. Knuckles!" She smiled. "You did great!"

Knuckles breathed in, not quite sure how to respond. These… friends… cheered him on, encouraged him, helped him. Perhaps teamwork wasn't as overrated as he had previously believed. For the first time in his life, he felt all the burdens of his life lifted slightly, as if they, too, were carrying them.

.

_**And with that, Knuckles is officially part of the team! Welcome, Knuckles! Stay tuned for some more adventure! As Eggman said, "This isn't the end… not by a long shot!" **_

_**(Due to how this story plan started to go, I'm attempting a few storylines in one. There are a few chapters dedicated to one character, due to seeing from his/her perspective a lot and focusing on their traits. For example, Knuckles was favored first, next is Tails, etc… Sonic, of course, remains the main character, so I didn't do anything too special for him, just brought him into everyone else's chapters. Near the end, the story is going to split off to actually pay attention to each character individually. That means each character has his/her own chapter.)**_


	6. Quest for the Chaos Emeralds

Chapter 6: Quest for the Chaos Emeralds

"Now that we know that the chaos emeralds give individual power, I think it's best if we find them all," Tails was saying to Sonic in the workshop.

Sonic and Tails were looking at their grey emerald and their green one. "Yeah, good idea, buddy. We can use that tracker of yours."

"And the Master Emerald can help."

"As long as Knuckles is a team player."

"There's just one thing that's been bothering me…"

"What's that?"

"Well, Robotnik obviously gained some sort of electrical power from his emerald, but these emeralds don't seem to be radiating any sort of magnetic, robotic, or other kinds of electricity…"

"Because that's not their power," Knuckles appeared.

The two turned to him. "Huh?"

"When the robot was using the Master Emerald's power on me, he mentioned seven separate powers attributed to the emerald. I can only be led to assume that those seven powers are for each individual emerald, combined in the Master. The yellow emerald that Robotnik has now is the emerald of electricity. That grey one holds a different power, and so does the green one."

"How do we find out what the powers are?"

"Call upon them."

Tails looked back at his emeralds. He picked up the grey one. "Alright… chaos emerald… um… lend me your power?" The gem glowed, and suddenly, Tails's fur was blown about by a sudden wind. "Wind!"

"Interesting…" Knuckles hovered above his shoulder, peering at the mysterious jewel.

"Give the kid some air, Knuckles," Sonic laughed. Knuckles backed away and scowled.

"It's my turn!" Sonic grabbed the green emerald. "Alright chaos emerald! Show me your stuff!" Through the small window on the ceiling, vines shattered the pane and wrapped throughout the room. "Wah!"

"Reckless!" Knuckles growled while side-stepping away from a vine.

"I… um… guess that's vegetation."

"Wow! I get it now!" Tails nodded. "I found the green emerald in the forest… so it makes sense!"

"Oh, yeah! And the grey one was up in the air at Angel Island, so it has the properties of sky or wind!"

"So what's the next step?" Tails questioned.

"Gather each one, keep them away from the wrong hands…" Knuckles was stern, almost frightening, but Sonic kept his carefree eyes on Tails.

"I know that look, Sonic," Tails said cheerily. "What do you need me to make?"

"With Knuckles's blessing of course," Sonic glanced at him, "We need an aircraft that can harness the power of the Master Emerald and your emerald tracker. That way, we can cover more ground. We may end up having to search all of Mobius!"

"I'm on it, Sonic! You can count on me!"

"I knew I could, Tails." With that, he went up and out of Tails's workplace.

"The Master Emerald requires the utmost amount of care, Tails," Knuckles told him.

"I'll make sure it's comfortable in the plane."

"Good." And Knuckles left, leaving Tails to his daunting task.

.

Dr. Robotnik examined his latest creation. "So much more powerful than before. Why did I ever believe that he should be equally matched? No… Sonic will endure his power plus the unlimited technical power my creation now holds. Ha ha ha! You'll never defeat this one, Sonic!" He closed the final compartment. "And once it gathers the emeralds… all the chaos of the universe will be unleashed!"

.

"It's finished!" Tails wiped his wet forehead and sighed. "Sonic will be so proud!"

He walked up the cold cement steps and opened the rusty, basement-like doors of his workshop, into the blinding sun. He squinted, but the light was so much of a contrast, he had to shut his eyes for a moment and slowly open them again. When he finally got used to the light, he looked around for a trace of his friend.

"Sonic!" his voice was a little hoarse from the several hours he hadn't used it. "Sonic!" The only response was the growl of his stomach. He had skipped lunch again, but Cream usually had dinner ready at about this time. _Maybe that's where Sonic is!_

He hurried over to the little house in the distance, using his two tails as propellers to gain better distance. He could nearly propel the speed of Sonic's casual jog, which meant he would never be left behind on any fun adventures he hoped to join. He used to just fly off with the plane, but recently he joined Sonic, even when Knuckles was their enemy for a short time, Tails was right behind him, fighting alongside him.

The small fox put his hand on the doorknob. He heard laughing voices inside and hesitated. He stood on his tiptoes and peeked through the small window at the top of the oak door. Amy was clearly there, blue in the face for whatever she was complaining to Sonic about this time. Sonic was merely scarfing down his food. Cream was giggling in the corner, but hadn't eaten a bite yet. A plate sat in front of an empty chair for Tails, and a boxed meal sat by, likely for Knuckles.

Tails smiled, turned the doorknob, and entered. "Amy, don't you ever give up?" Tails chuckled as he sat down.

"Oh, don't you start, Tails!" Amy was stomping her foot. "I swear Sonic will be mine!"

"You know, I'm sitting right here," Sonic's voice was a bit muffled by the food he kept packing in.

"Tails," Cream started, "Have you been working all day?"

"Sure have!" Tails exclaimed proudly. "And guess what, Sonic!" The blue hedgehog turned toward him. "It's done!"

"Wow! Great job, Tails!" Sonic swallowed. "That's gotta be a new record!"

Tails just let out a humble laugh and started eating.

"Tails…" Cream started again. "You shouldn't be down there away from the fresh air and the sunlight so much…"

"I don't mind it." This time Tails's mouth was full of food.

"But Tails… you barely eat."

"He's eating now!" Sonic laughed at the food dripping from his lips. Tails merely nodded. "You worry too much! This kid's got it, Cream!" Sonic patted his shoulder, and after a large swallow, Tails smiled.

"Yep, no need to worry about me!"

Suddenly, there was a crash from outside. The earth shook violently and tossed them about within house.

"What in the world…?" Sonic jumped over to the door, which swung open hard at the touch of his hand. Outside was a robot he well-knew, yet it was definitely more advanced. "Metal Sonic!"

"ThAt Is MeChA sOnIc To YoU!"

"Dude! It can talk now! That rocks!"

"Do NoT mOcK mE, sOnIc ThE hEdGeHoG! fOr NoW yOu WiLl Be EnTeRiNg A wOrLd Of PaIn!"

"Whatever you say, oh evil twin."

"Sonic…" Tails stared at the robot. "I think you should take this one seriously!"

"What makes you say that, Tails?"

"Because…" Tails was looking at his handheld tracker. "He has the other chaos emeralds!"

"What?!" Sonic snapped his head around. "How in the world could Eggman have gotten them so quickly?"

"I wAs CrEaTeD fOr SuCh A tAsK. iT wAs I wHo GaThErEd ThE sAcReD gEmS!"

Tails bit his lip. "I was too slow… my plane took too long and now Robotnik's ahead of us!"

"pRePaRe To TaKe YoUr FiNaL bReAtH." Mecha Sonic raised his hands to the sky, where a great storm bolt began to strike. As it struck, the field turned to fire. The earth shook again, dropping the group to their knees. Geysers shot up from within the flames, blanketing the scene with steam.

Tails ran as fast as he could to his workshop. They had to use the wind and vegetation somehow. _I failed Sonic…_ His throat tightened._ I failed him…_


	7. Fatal Metal

Chapter 7: Fatal Metal

Sonic did the best he could to fight the over-powered machine. Without his own chaos emeralds, he couldn't hope to get too far. Mecha Sonic was milking every bit of power he gained from the jewels, while Sonic was left barely dodging his high-speed attacks.

.

Meanwhile, Tails had made it to the workshop and grabbed the emeralds. He glanced over at his machine and thought for a moment. _Wait… all it needs is a few adjustments and… It could conquer that metal-head fake Sonic!_ He hurried to his tools. _I can't spare a single minute… I've got to make every second count, and every part necessary._ He rushed through his work as much as quality would allow in the important parts. Sure, he left out some ordinarily necessary parts, but such was trivial for offense.

.

When Tails returned, Mecha Sonic had Sonic in his grasp. "fEeL tHe PaIn Of YoUr DeMiSe!" Mecha Sonic did not give Sonic a fighting chance. A course of electric shock blasted through him, but only for a moment, for the power was cut off suddenly. Sonic opened his eyes. The chaos emerald's power was magnetized to Tails's airship, to a lighting rod at the front. After it gained the new energy, the orb at the tip of it glowed and shot a beam of electricity back at the robot. "No! YoU wIlL pAy FoR sUcH a TrIcK!"

"Sonic! Are you alright?" Tails called.

"Yeah! Perfect timing, buddy!" Sonic was at the ground. "What type of power you got for me in there?"

"Here!" Tails tossed out the grey emerald, which Sonic caught easily.

"Wind, huh? Alright. I can work with this." He turned back to Mecha Sonic. "Hey, Metal-head!"

"dO nOt DaRe InSuLt Me!" the enemy curled.

"What in the world is he doing?" Sonic wondered aloud.

"Sonic! It's charging up!" Tails's eyes widened. Mecha Sonic opened his body suddenly, pouring out electrical energy in spurts around the battlefield. "Dodge!"

They both did so easily. "That the best you got?" Sonic taunted.

"Sonic… please don't get him angry…" Tails mumbled to himself.

"Hey, Metal-head! You hear me?"

"YoU wIlL pAy DeArLy FoR yOuR iNsUlTs!"

"So you keep saying." Sonic laughed. "Hey, I know! You're all spark and no bite!" He laughed at his joke as he ran circles around the machine. "Come and get me, Sparky!"

Suddenly, the earth shook beneath him and a great pillar of stone came up, causing Sonic to fly into the air. Mecha Sonic then blasted a fireball from his core, causing Sonic to go flying into Tails's plane.

"Sonic!" Tails pulled him into the cockpit. "You alright?"

"Oh… let me at him!"

Tails smirked. "You've got it!" He aimed the plane at Mecha Sonic and flew full-speed. Naturally, Sonic's twin dodged quickly, but Sonic jumped from the plane and landed on him. "Take this! Chaos emerald, assist!" Sonic spun his enemy round and round in a mighty tornado-like air pocket. "Round and round and round we go!" he cheered. "Where we'll stop…_** I**_ don't even know!" He released him, and Mecha Sonic went flying through the air.

"One more trick!" Tails added. "Chaos emerald!" A tree grew just in time for Mecha Sonic to slam into it.

"Yes! Good one Tails!"

Tails smiled. "Thanks, Sonic."

"FoOlS…"

"Dude! It's still together?" Sonic's jaw dropped. "What kind of metal are you made out of?"

"sOlId StEeL…"

"Seems like Eggman's really getting fancy though… what'd he do, add extra polish and density?"

"i CaNnOt Be BeAtEn By A mErE tReE." Mecha Sonic incinerated the tree within a second. "nOw YoU wIlL wItNeSs ThE tRuE pOtEnTiAl Of ThE eMeRaLdS!"

"Sonic!" Tails called in warning.

"Don't worry, buddy! I'm fine!" Sonic braced himself for the extreme power he knew he would suffer. He was willing to admit to himself that Mecha Sonic was powerful, perhaps the most powerful thing he had yet seen. Could anything stop his twin?

Tails was not about to just stand by and watch Sonic get bombarded with the robot's attack. He flew in toward him as the machine gathered energy from the unnatural storm clouds that had appeared. After pulling a lever, his plane took a high-speed dive, crashing into it and absorbing some of the electric shock.

"fOoLiSh ChIlD! nOw YoU aRe TrApPeD!"

"Tails!" Sonic's cry seemed distant. Either that or Tails was that incredibly shocked with the force that Mecha Sonic had, for he was grasping the plane and slowing it down with his bare metal hands.

Tails quickly slapped a missile launch button, and the ammo blasted into Mecha Sonic, causing him to lose his grip so that Tails could break away.

Sonic was impressed with his friend. _Who knew the little guy had it in him? I've completely underestimated Tails this whole time… He packs quite a punch! And he really knows what he's doing!_ Sonic easily made it over to their battle zone. "Ready for another round, chaos emerald?" He tightened his grip on the gem. "Here goes!" He held it up in the air, and a great gust of wind flew from it, circling Mecha Sonic. He was trapped within its power.

Meanwhile, Tails checked his plane. _A few nicks here and there… but overall, it's holding out well. I'm doing it! I'm helping Sonic!_ He turned his plane back around, but was shocked at what met him there.

Though Mecha Sonic was spinning round and round within his vortex, he was still able to use some of his power, namely flying fire. Tails tried his best to dodge every one he could, but he naturally got hit many times in the process. His plane was up high as he tried to dodge the oncoming raining fire, but soon, none of his agility moves were working, and he was getting hit by every one.

Sonic had not yet noticed the rain of fire. Perhaps if he had, he would not have continued using his emerald to try to throw off Mecha Sonic. After all, it wasn't working quite as he had planned, yet he did not know that. He continued to use the emerald, thinking it was doing more damage than it actually was.

Tails's engine sparked and sputtered. The fire had hit the worst mark possible. Soon the right wing was burning to pieces, cracking off the machine. Tails gasped. His plane was falling.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted from across the way, hearing the engine bursting. Sonic finally realized his emerald was not succeeding. "You okay there, buddy?"

"I've been hit… but I'll recover!" Tails pressed a few buttons, but the plane did not stop falling. _Wait…_ _Everything I would normally install for defense… for safety… It's not here… I forgot how important it would be to recover… I was so rushed to finish!_ The fox began to panic as the plane continued to spiral down. He looked toward the hedgehog. Mecha Sonic had used water to dispel the wind around him and now flew suddenly at Sonic. They were now at a mainly one-sided hand-to-hand combat. _I shouldn't scream… He's got enough to handle… I can do this… _"I can do this!"

But he couldn't.


	8. Quest for the Emeralds pt 2

Chapter 8: Quest for the Emeralds Pt. 2

Sonic witnessed the crash and immediately stopped fighting. He ran over towards the heap of metal, but his rival stopped him. "You want this emerald?" Sonic asked in a panic, holding up the emerald of the wind. "Chaos Emerald, use your power to flee from this robot!" he whispered, and he threw the gem to the air. As he had hoped, Mecha Sonic went after it, freeing Sonic to get to Tails. "Tails! Can you hear me?"

He choked on the smoke that still rose from the wreckage. Finally, through it, he saw one of his friend's famous tails. Without hesitation he ran to that point and tried to lift the machine. He didn't have as much strength as he had speed, but the adrenaline had to help. He had to succeed, for his best friend.

Suddenly, he felt the load lighten enormously and the rubble rose. "Knuckles!" The echidna was lifting up the vehicle with his full strength.

"Take the kid and get out of here! Before that scrap of metal comes back!" Knuckles was strained under the weight, but Sonic grabbed Tails and pulled him away. "Is he alright?"

"I hope so…" _Tails… why didn't you call for help?_

"I saw the explosions… the clouds… I knew it could only be the work of the emeralds…" Knuckles waited for Sonic to free Tails from underneath. "Hurry! I've got the Master Emerald here with me now. If that machine comes back… The Master Emerald can sustain it. Just make sure you keep the last emerald in your hands!"

"The last emerald… It's in the ship!"

"I've got it! Go!"

Sonic ran as fast as he could to the hut he called home. He immediately laid Tails down in a small cot. He was still breathing, but each breath seemed raspy, harder and harder. Soon, though, he slowly opened his eyes. "Sonic…" he spoke hoarsely, "did we beat him?"

"Not yet, Tails…" the hedgehog frowned. "But it's okay. You were amazing out there… but why didn't you yell for help?"

Tails choked on his breath. "The emeralds…"

"He got one… I had to give up the wind one…"

"No…"

"Don't worry… We've still got the one you found… The forest emerald."

"I…" a cough and a sigh, "I failed you, Sonic…" Tails's eyes looked away.

"No… You didn't Tails. You were amazing!" Sonic grabbed his hand. "How could you ever think that you failed?"

"You had to give up one of our only two emeralds… If I had hurried… we would have had more… If I had hurried, my plane would have been alright in defense…"

"Tails…" But by now, only the tears were visible in his eyes as he shut them once again.

"Is he going to be okay?" the small voice startled Sonic.

"Cream!" He looked at the rabbit, then back at his brave friend. "I hope so, Cream."

"He tries too hard for your sake, Mr. Sonic… Can't you give him a break sometime?"

"I had no idea, Cream… I had no idea how much I've been… taking him for granted."

"I know, Mr. Sonic. But he tries so hard for you…"

"Then it's time I did the same for him!" Sonic stood up and pounded the air. "I'll get every single emerald back from Mecha Sonic… just for you, Tails!" He marched out of the hut immediately after saying so.

"Good luck, Mr. Sonic…"

.

"Knuckles!" Sonic gasped. "What happened?" He helped his friend up. "Where's the Master Emerald?"

"That machine is… quite powerful…" Knuckles huffed. "Who'd have guessed… a robot could wield the power of the emeralds?"

"What happened, buddy?"

"I used the Master Emerald… to my full extent… His emeralds got separated, more forcefully. Then… he tried to… take the Master Emerald…" Knuckles tried to stand straight up. "I shattered it."

"What?"

"We have to find the pieces and the chaos emeralds before he does… Hurry!"

"Well," Sonic sped off. "That's what I'm known for!" _But how on earth will I find these emeralds?_

.

Tails had heard everything Knuckles said. After all, it was right outside his window. "The tracker!" He sprang up and limped over to the door.

"Tails!" Cream stopped him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Only my tracker can track the emeralds!" He ran out before Cream could say another word.

He attempted to spin his tails to gain speed, but one was so sore he thought it may be broken. All he could do was naturally run. When he finally got to his workshop he grasped his tracker and ran back out. _Where are you, emeralds?_ He spotted the first and began to run.

.

He did not stop running. "Where are the emeralds?" Sonic cried, frustrated.

"You mean these?" a voice came behind him. It was Rouge. In her hands, she held a red emerald and two smaller light green ones, undoubtedly belonging to the shattered Master.

"Rouge! You found those?"

"I'm an expert treasure hunter! Of course I found them."

"Can you keep them away from Mecha Sonic?"

"Who?"

"Rouge… I need those for a battle against my metal-head counterpart! For Tails's sake I have to get them all. I—"

"Slow down! …If that's possible for you, sugar."

"Rouge… I'm begging you to give me those and to help me find the rest!"

"What's in it for me?"

"Anything! What do you want?"

"The Master Emerald."

"I…"

"Oh let me guess. I have to speak with the man in charge."

"Rouge… we're running out of time! Mecha Sonic will gather all the gems before we're done with this argument!"

"Fine… I'm looking for the gems anyway. But there are no promises that I'll give them to you! I'm merely going so that I can keep them away from whoever this Mechie is that you're talking about."

"Fair enough…" Sonic mumbled. He knew that was as far as he'd get with this jewel thief. So, they quickly set out.

.

"Chaos emerald!" you kept away from Mecha Sonic with your power!" Tails held out his hand and the emerald glided down to him. "Good job, emerald of the wind! And thank goodness you didn't try to dodge me!" _These emeralds almost have a mind or something! It's amazing it knew me and Sonic were on the same team!_

.

Knuckles had gathered five pieces of the Master Emerald. Being its guardian made him know at every moment where it was and in what condition… even if it was in pieces. Its power still lasted, despite being shattered. He also clutched a chaos emerald. The one he never let go of since he grabbed it from the wreck. The green emerald for which Sonic had entrusted responsibility on him. Knuckles would not let it go, not for anything. _I won't let them down._

.

"Dig, you scrawny thing!" Rouge tapped her foot.

"Why couldn't it be easier to find these things?" Sonic huffed. "I mean, seriously… how on earth did it get underground?" The hole was barely getting any bigger.

"Hurry up, Sonic! I thought you were supposed to be the quick one!"

"I'm sorry my specialty is not in digging!" His fingers hit something and he yelped. "Ouch!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby."

"You could have helped!" He pulled out the orange emerald. "Of course it's the emerald that controls the earth."

Rouge grasped it from his muddy hands and stared at it for a while. Finally, she put it away. "Well, let's move along then!" She fluttered off.

"I can't stand her…"

.

"What is this place?" Tails stepped lightly on the stone-paved ground. The air was cold and the area dark, despite the brightly shining sun. His limping steps echoed throughout the place. He felt a shadow around him and turned quickly. Nothing. "Hello?" He looked around him again. "I-Is anyone there?" Still nothing.

He looked again at his machine. The emerald was close… _but did it have to be in such a scary place?_ He approached it. It was under a pile of rocks and coal. "The purple one!" He smiled. "Alright… what's next?"

The shadow loomed behind him… two violet eyes stared at the equally violet gem that was now to disappear with that fox.

.

"The next one is this way…"


	9. Chaos Control

Chapter 9: Chaos Control

"Tails?" Sonic ran over to his friend. "What on earth are you doing? You're supposed to be in—" Tails was holding out two emeralds. "You… found those?"

"The wind stayed by for you. And I went into this creepy place for the purple one."

Rouge looked over their shoulders. "Well, well… you're quite a treasure-hunter."

"Heh… I had this tracker…" He pulled it out to show them.

"Tails… are you alright?" Sonic asked, concerned.

"I heard Knuckles outside. He said that the Master Emerald shattered and that the little ones dispersed."

"The big emerald shattered?" Rouge gasped.

"Don't you know that's what those pieces are from, Rouge?" Sonic gestured to the green pieces.

"Don't give that bat any ideas on keeping them…" anyone could recognize that snarl. Knuckles ripped the pieces out of her hands.

"Rude!" Rouge gasped.

"The Master Emerald is not up for grabs! It must be restored!"

"You could be a little nicer, Knuckles. She helped Sonic find those emeralds she's holding," Tails pointed out.

"Tails. I'm glad you're alright." Knuckles nodded to him. "And you found some emeralds."

"How many do we have together?" Sonic asked. They counted five. "What are we missing?"

"Electricity… and water," Knuckles determined.

"bOtH oF wHiCh I hAvE!"

"Mecha Sonic!" Tails turned. Sonic stepped in front of him, with an arm out to guard him. "Sonic?"

Sonic turned back to him, "Tails, you're hurt. You need to get out of here, fast!"

"I want to fight, Sonic!"

"No… I owe you. Give me the emeralds. I'll finish this."

"nO oNe Is LeAvInG!" Mecha Sonic unleashed his powerful electric barrage around them. "I WiLl DeStRoY yOu AlL!"

"No!" Tails cried out. "I can't get to my ships!"

"Well, this certainly puts a damper on things…" Rouge sighed.

"Master Emerald… assist!" Knuckles had put the gem together, and now it glowed brightly, pulsating as it shone, diminishing a bolt with each pulse. However, Knuckles was suddenly thrown back toward the bolts, as Mecha Sonic shot a stream of water at him, and the Master Emerald retreated to Angel Island, having been lost to Knuckles's hold.

"Knuckles!" Tails and Sonic screamed. Water and electricity was the worst possible combination that Mecha Sonic could have. Fortunately, Rouge thought a little more quickly than they did and flew over to him, grasping him and landing him before he hit the electric edge.

Knuckles growled at the machine. "You can't stop the Master Emerald!" He turned to Rouge and nodded in thanks. He then looked back at the machine before he could see her blush.

"No need to thank me," she shrugged it off.

Knuckles smirked, "Hmp… I'll remember that when you bring this up later to cash in for the emerald…"

Rouge widened her eyes. "Jerk!"

He merely chuckled at his joke.

"Will you love-bats give it a rest?" Sonic sighed. "We're kinda in the middle of something!"

They both turned red as Knuckles's head. "Whattaya mean love-bats?!" he growled. "I would never… not with a thief like her!"

"Stick-in-the-mud!" Rouge insulted back.

"Crook!"

The red on Rouge's face was now anger, but she didn't have time to satisfy it. After all, there was a battle going on.

Tails was holding up the purple emerald. "Radiation, right? Let's see what you've got!" A pulse came from the gem, knocking everyone down to the ground like a great force of gravity.

"Twerp! It's not supposed to hurt us too!" Rouge flapped her wings and began to fly again.

"S-Sorry…" Tails was trembling.

Sonic saw that his friend was troubled, "It's fine Tails. Calm down."

_I can't do anything right today… First my ship goes down… then I can't get to the others… now the emerald isn't even working right!_

"Incoming!" came the call from Amy. She burst out above them in one of Tails's old machines.

"The Chameleon!" Tails smiled. "Amy?" He gasped. "Do you even know how to drive that?"

"No! Help me out a little, Tails!" She clumsily landed the ship. Meanwhile, Mecha Sonic charged up for another attack.

"That's my oldest machine that's still together! Did you have to pick that one?" Tails looked over at the enemy. "Ah! Everyone! Pile inside! Hurry!" He closed the overhead door and the electric wave surrounded the ship. "Hold on tight, guys! It's time to finish this!" He pulled a lever, and the electricity was dispelled immediately.

"Whoa, Tails! Why didn't you use this the whole time?" Sonic looked around.

"It's not that powerful…" Tails held out his hand. "But it never used the power of the emeralds before…"

Knuckles handed over his green one, "Go for it!" Rouge looked at hers. "Oh, come _on_, batty!"

"I can't easily part with these…" Rouge continued to stare at them.

"Would you rather be blown to smithereens?" Knuckles looked through the window, where he saw Mecha Sonic charging at them. "Tails!"

Tails moved the ship upward, away from the blow, but into the storm clouds. "Hang on… it's gonna get a little bumpy."

"Give up the gems!" Amy pleaded.

"It's for your own sake!" Sonic noted.

Tails led the ship up and out of the clouds, to a clear blue sky. "This was the perfect ship, Amy! Thanks!" He pulled a switch and the ship slowed down. "It's the only ship that can successfully function even with an electrical attack around it! How did you know to take it?"

"Actually…" Amy started.

"It was dumb luck?" Sonic asked.

"Emphasis on 'dumb,'" Knuckles added.

"No!" Amy pulled her hammer on them. "Actually, Cream told me."

"Cream?" they all questioned.

"She knows your planes well, Tails. After all, she is the one always going down there while you're working. To try to get you to eat, you know?"

"Wow, I had no idea she knew so much."

"More than me…" Sonic noticed sadly. "I'm sorry, buddy."

"Sonic…?"

"You've worked so hard all this time, and you barely get any credit at all."

"Well…"

"Here, kid…" Rouge handed over her emeralds.

"Thanks, Rouge!"

She winked. "You're quite the young man, kid. Keep up your good work!"

"Alright!" He placed the emeralds across the dashboard. "What makes this ship special, is that it can absorb power that hits it, inside and out."

"Cool!" Sonic exclaimed.

"That's why it could dispel the electricity. It actually absorbed it. It's in the power gauge, see?" He pointed to a monitor.

"So what are you planning to do, Tails?"

Tails grinned. "I know just the thing." _It's gotta work… And at this point, it's the only thing that _can_ work!_ "Guys, move back a little."

The rest of them moved behind his chair, squeezing themselves in another section. "What's the plan?" Sonic asked. Tails pressed a button and a wall came up between them. Soon, they were cut off and hovering by themselves, seeing through that clear wall that Tails was about to dive down. "Tails!" Sonic hit the glass.

"What does he think he's doing?" Knuckles gasped.

"That kid's quite a hero," Rouge declared.

"He's gonna get himself killed!" Sonic pounded the glass harder.

"Calm down and give him some credit Sonic!" Amy grasped his hand. "Besides… look at us! We're together!"

Sonic pushed her off. "Amy, please!"

The clouds began to clear, and they could now see Mecha Sonic and Tails. Tails's ship was surrounded with purple rings, spikey vine growths, fire, a mighty wind, and floating rocks. His ship really did absorb all of the emeralds' power. Suddenly, the ship glowed as bolts shot around it. He had added the last power, the one he absorbed from the enemy himself.

Mecha Sonic could not hope to catch him without injury, nor could he dodge him quickly enough. He was hit straight on, and both slammed into the ground below. Smoke flew upward in the landing place.

The others' ship half finally hovered its way to the ground. Sonic was the first to burst out and run toward the wreckage. "Tails!" He coughed and waved the smoke away. He walked slowly through the fog, until he felt something at his feet. He picked it up. It was a crushed piece of metal. "Tails!" A shadow was in front of him, soon coming into view. "Tails…"

The fox smiled widely. "He's gone, Sonic!"

"You did it buddy!" Sonic ran at him and squeezed him tight. "You're a hero, man!" He pulled away, "But… what is…?" He held up the scrap metal as the smoke cleared completely. He saw it was a bright royal blue, not green or yellow like Tails's ship. "Mecha Sonic!"

"Crushed to bits!" Tails's smile got even bigger.

"Great job, Tails!" Amy ran in and gave him a hug.

"A job well done, fox," Rouge nodded.

"Amazing, Tails," Knuckles clasped his shoulder. "Great job taking control of the chaos emeralds!"

"Tails, the controller of chaos!" Sonic cheered.

_He's proud of me… He really is…_ Tails looked around him._ They all are…_

_._

_**Aw… that's all Tails ever wanted, isn't it? I hope you enjoyed his part of the story. …And I bet you enjoyed not having these commentaries interrupting you… :/**_

_**Now… dare I bring up the one thing that was not resolved? Where exactly did Tails go to get that purple gem? And more importantly… who was watching him? Find out in the next chapter!**_


	10. Rubies and Diamonds and Emeralds oh my!

Chapter 10: Rubies and Diamonds and Emeralds… oh my!

The emeralds had again scattered to their different regions, but no one in that house cared for now. They were celebrating their recent victories, and Tails was telling his "last moments of battle" story for the dozenth time over. During that, Rouge slipped out, unnoticed by even the careful Knuckles, who was correcting anything Tails said partially false about the emeralds.

She looked up at the stars and spread her wings, fluttering up and away from the place. _They certainly are a noisy bunch… Not to mention too carefree for their own good… After what they've seen, it's amazing that they could be laughing and making jokes while the ongoing threat is out there. Ah, well… that's their problem. _She landed at a cave entrance. _And besides… that echidna is different…_ "He could at least keep them in line." She shrugged.

It was just her and the night, as always, and she ducked into her cave and sat along the wall, gazing at her collection. _Rubies… diamonds… jewels uncountable!_ She picked up a small lump of coal she spotted.

With a gasp, she dropped the stone. _She's been here…_

.

Sonic greeted the morning with a quick run. He ran up and down hills, through forests, and across water itself. Finally, he hopped up a tree and lay on its branches, looking at the clouds. Everything seemed to be back to order, which he didn't mind now that he's seen the opposite. He let out a sigh and grinned. "Robotnik is no threat. He probably never will be again." He closed his eyes. "Peace may be boring, but I enjoy the free time."

Suddenly, he heard something rush by. He opened his eyes and looked down. Peering through the branches, he saw Rouge land. She looked angry, and she held something far from a jewel. It was a piece of coal. "Catnap!" she was shouting. "I can follow you because I'm a treasure hunter you fiend! I can smell your jewels from a mile away! I know you're here, so show yourself!"

From within a farther tree, a cat-like creature jumped. She was jet black, with an outfit much like Rouge's only purple instead of pink. "You haven't lost your touch, Rouge. I'm impressed."

"Cut the formalities, kitty!" Rouge threw the coal at her, and it rolled to her feet. "What did you take from my collection?"

"Only what you and your little friends owed me, batty!" She hit the rock away with her fluffy tail.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the emeralds, Rouge!"

Rouge squinted her eyes, puzzled. Sonic perked up and leaned in closer to the girls.

"A certain little two-tailed fox came by my hideaway and stole a purple gem."

"Tails?" Rouge gasped. "That's where he found the purple emerald, isn't it?"

"You know purple is my favorite color, dear Rouge. And I wanted it back."

"I don't have it anymore."

"That's because _I_ do!"

"What?!"

"That's what I took from you and replaced with the coal."

_She has the chaos emerald!_ Sonic rubbed his chin. _I wonder if that's gonna be a problem…_

.

"Of course it's a problem!" Knuckles growled. "I wouldn't trust any friend of that bat!"

Sonic sighed. _Why did the stick-in-the-mud have to come in right at this moment?_

Tails shook his head, "As long as it's just the one, I don't see the issue."

"The issue is that a _thief_ has one of the chaos emeralds!"

"And nothing's going to happen to it, cause it just sits underneath a pile of coal!" Sonic argued.

"That's like the best defense against any baddies that would be after it!" Tails noted.

Knuckles sighed. He was beaten. "Fine," he crossed his arms.

Tails grinned. "Besides," he started. He pulled out a golden gem from a machine. "I have the one that's really gonna help me out!"

"A chaos emerald!" Knuckles straightened up.

"The electric one, right?" Sonic asked.

"Yep! This means Eggman will never get his hands on it!"

"What about any _thieves_?" Knuckles was obviously not ready to drop the issue.

"Don't worry about it!" Sonic shrugged. "As long as Eggman doesn't have it. Seriously, what could a thief possibly do with the emerald?"

.

Rouge tapped her foot as she waited for Catnap. Finally, the feline appeared. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Rouge."

"Cut the formalities. What do you want?"

"Those friends of yours are quite a bunch, batty."

"Acquaintances…"

"Either way, they're too carefree for their own good."

"I know."

"And they trust you."

"More or less."

"Good."

"Why?"

Catnap smirked and held up her emerald. "I want more."

"Catnap! You got the purple one! You should be happy with that!"

"I want more!"

"What good will they do you? Robotnik will just come by to steal them from you, and you won't be able to defend yourself from his robots!"

"I want the big one!"

"Oh please."

"You'll get it for me."

"No… I won't."

"If you do, I promise not to steal a jewel or gem from you ever again."

Rouge hesitated. "…Still… no."

"They trust you more than they'll trust a stranger like me. You're the only one who could get close enough!"

"Look, Catnap. I've come to respect the guy who guards that gem. I won't steal it from him. He's a good guy."

"Oh really? Is he now?" Catnap smirked. "Seems like you've got a thing for this echidna."

"No!"

"Hehehe! Oh, don't worry… I won't tell or anything! Hahahah!"

"Hmph."

"But how about this: If you don't do this, I'll have to… and I can't promise that I'll be… gentle."

"Oh please! He can handle you!"

"Can he? Are you sure? But… didn't you say these emeralds had some sort of power?"

"You wouldn't…"

"No… I wouldn't… as long as you do."


	11. Betray to Be True

Chapter 11: Betray to Be True

Rouge used the curtain of night to flutter up to Angel Island. The echidna guard was sleeping, for now. She knew he was a light sleeper, as his duty depended on it. A single movement would wake him. She gazed at that gem, the emerald that she used to desire so much. Now it was nothing but a rock to her. A powerful rock, no doubt, but a rock nonetheless. She didn't care about it. How could that be? She shook her head, then looked down at the sleeping protector. She felt a sudden warmth rush to her face, but shook out of it. _Jewels are all I crave_, she said to herself. _Jewels are all I crave_.

.

She needed a plan to get alone with the emerald, and she had just the way to do it. She would need Cream's help, of all animals. She knocked on the door of the house, just when she knew Amy was out chasing Sonic and Tails was down in his workshop.

The little rabbit opened the door. "Hello?" she peeked out. "Ms. Rouge!"

"Hey, Cream," the bat smiled a fake motherly smile. "May I come in?"

"Sure!" The bunny led her to a chair and she sat down. "Would you like something?"

"No. I can't stay long. I just wanted to ask a favor of you."

"Oh?"

"Cream, you always take a lunch up to Knuckles, right? Well, I've been thinking about how he's always up there… alone. Wouldn't it be better if we took turns watching the emerald? Like shifts?"

"I've tried that already. Mr. Knuckles is persistent. He won't leave the emerald with any of us."

"Hm…" Rouge thought awhile. "Well, he should at least take a little break."

"Or we can go up to him."

"Well, yeah… but…" Rouge's plan had backfired. _That's like calling for reinforcements_.

"Oh! We could have so much fun!" The rabbit started hopping up and down. "We can have a picnic up on Angel Island for lunch!"

"Wait, Cream!"

But the rabbit was already in another room, making sandwiches and collecting food in a basket.

"Well… I guess it won't happen today…" Rouge didn't mind waiting, but then again, how long could she?

.

Amy smacked the ball with her hammer. "It's out of here!" she cheered.

Sonic sped out, then sped back with the ball. "Not quite, Ames."

"That has _got_ to be cheating!"

"You have two flyers on your team!" Sonic countered.

Rouge and Cream looked at each other. "He's got a point."

"Well what good is playing then? We'll just get each other out."

"Why don't we toss the Frisbee?" Tails pulled out a green disk.

"Alright! Toss it here, buddy!"

Tails flew up in the air and spun, releasing the Frisbee to soar far. Sonic ran after it. He sped up a tree and jumped to catch it, landing perfectly on his feet. "Ta-da! Who's next?"

Rouge watched them carefully. They were all distracted. That would be the time to do it. _Quickly snatch it and go… hide it in my cave… they'll never know…_ Knuckles was running out to the distance with his arms up. _Now, while his careful eyes aren't on it… now… while I have the chance._ She stepped backwards, one step, two steps. She placed a hand on the gem behind her._ I've longed for so long to touch this great jewel… to have it as my own. _"Why is my only feeling a sinking heart?" Knuckles caught the disk and threw it out towards Cream, who flew up high to grab it. Rouge tried to shake it off. _What's the worst that could happen? A thief will have it, so what? It's not like it's Robotnik._ She turned towards the jewel. "And if I don't… worse _can_ happen."

"Rouge! It's your turn!" Sonic called. He was now holding the disk. He threw it to her, but she let it pass overhead. "Aw! Rouge!"

"Who said I was playing this stupid game?" Rouge shrugged.

"Even Knuckle-head is playing!" Amy noted.

Sonic shouted, "First one to the disk wins!"

"No fair, Sonic!" Amy whined. "We all know you're the fastest!"

"Fine, I'll go first and determine who's the winner!" He sped ahead.

Tails, Amy, and Cream ran out past the emerald to where the disk ended up, far away.

Knuckles walked back over to the emerald. "They have too much energy."

"You're tired?" Rouge asked, with a hint of hope in her voice.

"I'm used to just sitting here, so I suppose I am."

_Now's my chance… the only chance._ She rested a hand on the gem. "I'll look after it for you if you'd rather rest."

"As if I'd let it out of my sight for a moment. Especially to an ex-thief."

"Well I—" Rouge stopped short. "Wait… what did you call me?"

"Well, you haven't been stealing the emeralds anymore. So you're not a thief, per se. But I still don't trust you in the least."

Rouge felt her chest tighten again. _Hate to break it to you, but calling me an ex-thief is a form of trust… And it's the only trust you probably give anyone, especially me. But… I have to break it._ "I'm…" she cleared her throat and began to act. "I'm insulted."

"Insulted?"

"Yes, insulted." She flew above the gem. "Because this is my job, Knuckles. I'm taking this emerald from you!"

Knuckles jumped up and tightened his fists. "You can't be serious! Not again!"

"You said it yourself! You're tired! So this is mine!" She dove at him, but he dodged. She didn't want to hit him anyway. The whole point was to not hurt him, as Catnap would. He pounded his fist at her, but she easily fluttered away. She grabbed the emerald, but Knuckles tackled her before she could lift it. "Let me go! Give it up!"

"As if!" he raised a fist.

"Knuckles!" Sonic's voice was never more welcome. Rouge sighed, relieved. "What are you doing?"

"He just started attacking me! Said he didn't trust me around _his_ emerald!" Rouge lied.

Knuckles growled, "What?! Oh, please, batty! She told me herself she was going to steal it!"

Sonic pulled Knuckles off her while Cream helped her up. "Are you sure, Mr. Knuckles? I mean, she's been nothing but nice to you. It was her idea to have this picnic with everyone, so that you wouldn't be so lonely up here by yourself."

"That thief!"

"Knuckles!" Sonic shouted. "Chillax!"

"I've been nothing but true to you guys," Rouge frowned. That _was_ the truth. "And _he_ accuses me as always! You terrible, rude, jerk!"

"I'll show you a jerk!" Knuckles broke free and ran at her, but Cream blocked her.

"Stop, Mr. Knuckles!"

"Stay away from the emerald…" he growled under his breath. Then, he walked away, sitting back at his post by the gem.

"That job is making him paranoid…" Rouge suggested. "Somebody's got to take it off his shoulders."

"That's a good idea, Rouge!" Tails chimed in. "I'll take the first shift. Sonic, you get Knuckles down to the house."

"Sure thing!"

Rouge was left alone while Tails sat in front of the emerald and Sonic dragged Knuckles away. She was glad her plan was working, but at the same time she could barely breathe as she watched Knuckles get towed away.

"Want to help, Rouge?" Tails looked at her.

"Of course."

"Good. I forgot I have to fly the plane back! Amy doesn't know how to work my machines, and Sonic doesn't even know how to drive it! But I'll be right back!"

"I'm sure you will…" Rouge waved as he ran off.

She grasped the gem and carried it up and away, as quickly as possible, to her cave.


	12. The Power of Greed

Chapter 12: The Power of Greed

One thing was for certain. She could never show her face to them again. Not any of them. At least her cave was secret and secluded. She had her jewels, and that's all she would ever need. …Right?

She paced as she waited for Catnap. She had promised to come at sunset. It was dark now, and there wasn't a sign of her. Rouge turned back to her jewels, where she had the emerald. She gasped. It was gone. In its place, however, was a large lump of coal. "She _did_ come." She stepped back outside.

"You forget…" she gasped at the familiar voice. "I'm a treasure hunter, too." She turned to see the angry red echidna standing at the cliff's edge. He must have just climbed up to her cliff-side cave. "Give it back, Rouge."

"I don't have it," Rouge was still shocked to see him, so she didn't have a quick reply.

"Well then, _get_ it back!"

"I can't!"

"That cat friend of yours has it, doesn't she?" He was stepping menacingly toward her, almost bringing her to the cave wall. "You set me up!"

"How do you know about Catnap?"

"Sonic saw you talking with her. She has one of the chaos emeralds and now she has the Master Emerald!" Rouge was now against the cave wall.

"You won't get it back."

"If you aren't going to help me, I have no use for you…" He tightened his fist and got ready to punch.

_Self-defense_, she told herself, and she kicked him off her and ran outside to fly. He grabbed her boot before she could take off, though. "Get off!" She fell to the ground. "Give it up!"

"You've been a pain in my side for too long!"

Suddenly, there was a crash, and Knuckles lost his grip on Rouge. "What in the world was that?"

"Radiation." Knuckles stood.

"The emeralds…" Rouge stood as well. _But… isn't Catnap the one that has radiation?_ _All that power… to Catnap… Does she know how to use it? Better yet… does she know how to use it for good? _Rouge didn't pay attention as the land beneath her started to crack and shatter from the radiating force. Suddenly, she fell, dropping with more speed due to the pressure. She barely had time to let out a yelp, but she stopped falling suddenly.

"Hang on…" Knuckles was struggling under the weight of radiation, but he had grabbed her arm.

She looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

"Saving you… What does it look like I'm doing?" With great strength, he pulled her back up inside her cave. "Looks like your _friend_ is letting the power go to her head."

"You…"

"It's about time I stop this nonsense…" he started to leave.

"But…" Rouge blinked. _Did he just threaten me then save me? _Suddenly, her ears perked. "Knuckles!"

But it was too late. Catnap appeared, floating with the power of the purple chaos emerald. "Well, well… if it isn't my old friend. And look here! She has a guest."

"Give up the emerald if you know what's good for you!" Knuckles shouted.

"Ha! As if! Do you know how powerful I am with these?" She lifted up the Master Emerald beside her. "I'll take every emerald and add it to my collection. Pretty soon, I will take the gem that is earth!"

"You're insane!" Rouge tried. "_I'm_ not even interested in the whole globe!"

"That's because you were never able to aim high enough, Rouge. Strange, since you can fly."

Knuckles, meanwhile, was running at the Master Emerald. "Master Emerald—!"

"Not so fast! Master Emerald! Show him _my_ power!" The emerald pulsed. It actually listened to her?

"How?" Rouge gasped.

"I'm its master now!" And with a great force, Knuckles was blown back. Not just that, but he became discolored.

Rouge gasped. "Knuckles!" He became black as… coal. "What did you do to him?" He was stiff, still with his hard face.

"Taught him a lesson."

"Catnap! You're more trouble than you're worth!" Rouge stood. "You have no idea what sort of power you have right now!"

"Au contrare! I know exactly the power I have… and I _love it_!"

"You'll destroy everything! You're misusing it!"

"You just want it for yourself!"

"No, I don't! Look at what you've already done, Catnap!" Rouge gestured to Knuckles. "You are not an evil creature… you're just a thief."

But the power had overwhelmed her, and it was getting to her head. More than that, her greed seemed to be bringing more power to the jewels. Rouge was outmatched.

Just then, she suddenly realized something. _I'm a treasure hunter… all I need is to do is outmatch her…_ Leaving Knuckles hardened, she flew off, hiding herself in the dark of night, avoiding Catnap's pursuit.

.

"It's all my fault… I shouldn't have left her there!" Tails groaned for the thousandth time.

"Come on, buddy, relax!" Sonic put a hand on his shoulder. "Who would have ever thought that the paranoid stick-in-the-mud was right?"

"Yeah… I guess so…"

"I still don't get it…" Cream mumbled. "Why did she take it? What good is it to her?"

"She just likes jewels, Cream," Amy explained. "There's no stopping that."

"Hm…" Sonic looked around. "Knucklehead has been gone awhile now…"

"You're right," Tails agreed. "Do you think he's alright?"

"He probably got distracted by her." Sonic laughed.

Cream giggled. "Could you imagine…? They can't even get along without fighting for a _second_!"

"Well, it doesn't help that Knuckles doesn't trust her."

"Yeah," Amy moved closer to Sonic. "It's not like _our_ relationship!"

"We don't have a relationship!" Sonic pushed her off him.

Just then, a piercing tone hit their ears.

"What's that?!"

"My alarm!" Tails jumped up. "I set it in case Robotnik or his robots tried to get into my workshop!"

"Why?"

"Well, I thought it was a good idea to protect it since the emerald's down there."

"Oh, no!"

They ran outside, just in time to see a whitish silhouette flying off with deep black wings.

"Rouge?"

"She's at it again!" Tails ran after her.

"Wait, buddy!"

But Tails flew off after her.

"Rouge…" Tails mumbled. "What's going on with you?"


	13. Jewels of Power

Chapter 13: Jewels of Power

Rouge had done it. It took a while, but she collected all the chaos emeralds, all except the purple one. But she wasn't sure if she had the advantage. After all, Catnap had the Master of them all. She might not stand a chance.

"Rouge!" she jerked up at the sound of a familiar voice. She turned slowly and saw the young two-tailed fox behind her. "Why are you stealing all the emeralds? Can't you share with us?" The boy looked troubled. "I… I trusted you to watch the emerald… and… I…"

She shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm sorry, fox—"

"No. Stop acting."

"Huh?"

"This isn't greed. I can tell. If it had been greed, you would have hunted for the easier jewels first, not mine at my base."

"You're a clever one, aren't you, kid?" She lifted the yellow jewel. "Mind if I borrow this?"

"Borrow?"

"You obviously know about Catnap."

"Your cat burglar friend."

"She's no friend of mine! She's more of a rival. Nonetheless, she's never been big competition…" Rouge pulled out another emerald, the red one. "She got a hold of the purple emerald."

"Radiation."

"That's the one you found."

"Me?" Tails scratched his head, then perked up suddenly. "That was her hideout?"

"Unfortunately. So she got it back and eventually learned of their power."

"She wants the power…"

"She _has_ the power. She tricked me into stealing the Master Emerald for her, but now she's intent on stealing the rock that is the world."

"You're trying to stop her… all by yourself?"

"I work alone, kid. Why should I need anyone else?"

"Because we're a team. We work together. We can't handle these things on our own, Rouge. That's why we have each other."

"Touching… really. But I'll pass."

"You don't have a choice, Rouge," Sonic had appeared. "We're with you all the way."

"Yeah, Ms. Rouge! Please let us help!" Cream landed eagerly by her side.

"Hmph, whatever you say."

"So where is this villain?" Amy held up her hammer.

Tails looked around. "…and where's Knuckles?"

"Where you will soon be!" Catnap had appeared again. "Thank you so much for going through the trouble of collecting the gems for me, Rouge. I'll take them now."

"No you won't!" Rouge shouted. "Chaos Emeralds! Show me your power!"

"Master Emerald! Command them!"

_I'm no match for her…_ Rouge began to doubt. _Not with the power of the Master in her hands!_ But the emerald did not shine. It did not glow or even flicker. It was lifeless.

"What?" the cat stared at it. "What's going on here?"

"That emerald won't listen to you!" Sonic shouted. "It'll only listen to its guardian!"

"That's not what happened before!" Catnap tried again, "Feel my power, oh Master of emeralds!"

"Greed may be powerful… but only against something weak!" Amy determined.

"What?"

"You used that power against Mr. Knuckles… didn't you?" Cream shivered. "He's…"

"The power of that Master Emerald is in him!" Rouge remembered. "He's the only one who can really control it."

"Then why was it so easily controlled by me?" Catnap screamed.

"It wasn't…" Rouge realized. "Knuckles… did that to himself… to fool you! If you thought you had control of the Master of the chaos emeralds, you wouldn't search for them!"

"What?"

Rouge raised a fist and spread her wings to fly. "He… He trusted me! He trusted me to restore it to him! …with the power of the chaos emeralds!"

Sonic cheered, "Alright, Knuckles! He's getting better at his whole trust problem."

"And he knew that you'd know what to do!" Tails added.

"Great minds think alike, I suppose," Rouge smirked. "Now let's finish this, Catnap!"

With the power of the elements, Rouge and her …teammates… used the chaos emeralds against Catnap's only power, the purple emerald. Catnap was no match. Because of the gathering of the emeralds, they were blown away, separated yet again.

Catnap squealed and tried to run away.

"Not so fast, kitty-cat!" Sonic stopped her. "Where are you going?"

"I won't steal the chaos emeralds, I swear!" the cat pleaded. "I'll stick with diamonds… and rubies… and sapphires… and maybe a pearl or two…" She began to whine, "But I'll never try to steal an emerald again!"

Rouge shrugged. "I think coal looks better on her anyway."

"I'm sure she won't bother us again, Mr. Sonic…" Cream spoke up.

"I swear I won't! I swear by my jewels and coal!" Catnap continued to plead.

"Good enough for me, then," Rouge nodded.

With that, Catnap sped off.

"Well, you guys. Thank you… for the support."

"I think you should really be thanking Knuckles for trusting you to carry out his plan," Sonic mentioned.

"Oh, no! Mr. Knuckles! Where is he?" Cream asked, panicked.

.

Knuckles was restored by the Master Emerald.

"You really had us tricked, knucklehead," Rouge frowned.

"I had to do something to make that cat give in. Obviously, she wasn't truly evil… but power does things to people… anyone, really…"

"Don't worry, I won't get any ideas," Rouge winked. "But thank you… for trusting me."

"Hmph. I didn't really have a choice."

"Don't lie, Knuckles," Sonic winked and nudged him. "You did have a choice."

Knuckles tried desperately to hide his blush. "Fine! But I figured… aw forget it…"

"I appreciate your trust… despite my tricks on you," Rouge held out a hand to him.

Knuckles smiled and took it. He gave it a powerful shake, but Rouge pulled him close and gave him a peck on the cheek, making it bright red.

"See you around, you guys! You all are alright." And with that, she flew off once again.

"You look like a tomato!" Amy teased.

"Shut up!" Knuckles growled, wiping off whatever remained from the kiss.

"I think you guys make a good couple!" Tails laughed.

"Shut it!"

Cream smiled, "Aw, Mr. Knuckles…"

"Don't say a word!"

Sonic just burst out laughing, as did everyone else. Everyone except Knuckles.

_**So that concludes Rouge's part of the story. I know, you miss Eggman, don't you? Well, he's coming up… he's just been working on a machine. He doesn't like to be rushed, you know. So Amy's story is right around the corner. Stay tuned! And REVIEW!**_


	14. Separate Hearts

Chapter 14: Separate Hearts

"Ah, Sonic…" Amy sat on her bed and picked at the petals of a flower. "He'll love me soon," she pulled off one, "he'll love me later," another petal fell to her lap. "He'll love me soon… he'll love me later… soon… later… soon… later… soon… later… soon… aw man! Later!"

"More like never," Cream giggled at the doorway.

"Hey!" Amy turned a little red. "How long were you standing there?"

Cream merely smiled.

"I'm telling you, Cream… Someday I'll prove to him how great I am!"

"In your dreams…" Cream laughed again. "Mr. Sonic likes you, sure. Just not… like that."

"Hmph! He will soon."

"You mean later…" Cream giggled again and left.

"Yeah… sooner or later… someday…"

.

Robotnik paced back and forth, fiddling with buttons and assembling parts. "I've finally got it… With this radial satellite thingamajig, it should span far enough…" He laughed and sneered as his index finger lowered onto the red button.

.

Sonic and friends were just finishing eating lunch when a great quake began. It seemed that even the air itself shook with great force. Suddenly, they seemed to be ripped from their chairs as Amy went flying and the house tumbled down. "What in the world just happened?" Sonic asked, coughing from the dust that settled.

"What's going on? I-It's getting darker!" Cream trembled. Suddenly, she shrieked. "Monsters!"

As impossible as it seemed, monsters were creeping toward them.

"Let's get out of here. Fast!" Sonic grabbed Tails and Cream and started running, but he felt heavier and weaker. He wasn't fast enough and he tired quickly. "I… don't feel well…"

"Don't worry, Sonic, I think we got away," Tails reassured him. "But where's Amy?"

"I don't know…"

.

"Sonic? Tails? Cream?" Amy crossed her arms across her torso and walked carefully. "Guys, this isn't funny! What's going on?" She was alone, completely alone. She didn't know what to do. "Robotnik's behind this… I don't know how… but he is… I just know it." She furrowed her brow and raised a fist. "I'll figure it out!" She ran off in the direction in which she knew Robotnik's lab was.

Right where she left, Rouge wandered aimlessly. "Oh great… where am I? And why can't I fly?" She flapped her wings again, but nothing happened. "This can't be happening to me…"

"Alright, bat! What did you do with the emerald?!" the familiar voice howled.

"Really, knucklehead? Haven't you learned anything? I'm not after your emerald anymore."

"Then where is it?"

"I don't know. I have my own problems."

"The first step is admitting it…" Knuckles smirked.

"How dare you!"

.

Sonic, Tails, and Cream wandered aimlessly through a grey field. "This is weird…" Tails noted.

"That it is… Something's wrong here," Sonic looked to his left and right, but it was just more grey… until he looked ahead. "Tornado!"

"You can outrun that, right Sonic?" Tails asked.

"I have been known to do so in the past… but today I just feel off…"

"Better try anyway, Mr. Sonic!" Cream pointed as the tornado advanced.

"Alright, hang on, guys!" And Sonic ran, but the tornado was faster, much faster, it seemed. "Tails, Cream, fly!" He let go of them and they went up in the air.

"Grab hold of my hand, Sonic!" Tails called, reaching out to him. But Sonic was swept up by the cyclone. "Hang in there!" Tails circled around, trying to get a hold of Sonic, but he was unreachable. "Sonic! No!" But Tails was blown back from the cyclone, right into Cream, and they both fell hard into the grey earth.

.

Amy walked cautiously around the gate that bordered the lab. She ducked behind scrap metal pieces and crates and came to the door. "This is too easy… Why is this so easy?" She carefully pushed in the door and walked into the darkness.

.

Sonic rubbed his head. "Aw, Tails… I thought you could grab me." He looked around. "Now where am I?" He gasped as he saw the monsters again. "Oh geez!" Sonic jumped up into a sprint, but again, he could not match their speed. "What the heck is going on with me today?!"

.

Amy tiptoed up stairs and peeked inside an open doorway, where she saw Robotnik peering at screens. "Oh, boy…" he was mumbling, "This is too good!" He rubbed his hands together and cackled. "Run, run, Sonic… you'll never be quick enough! Knuckles, your precious emerald is gone! Tails, you will never be able to help Sonic! Rouge will never fly again… and she'll be lost forever! Little Cream… I knew you'd be afraid of just about everything! And I don't even need to mind where Amy is, because poor little Amy Rose is all alone, far from her friends! Ha ha ha ha ha! Watch as your greatest fears come to life with my latest machine! And you don't even know it's fake!"

"Fake?" Amy gasped. _ It's all a nightmare! But why can I see Robotnik just fine? _ Amy shook her head. _I don't have to worry about the logistics of it… the point is, I was separated from the others because that's my greatest fear… being apart from Sonic and Cream and all my friends… But Robotnik doesn't know I'm here…_ She smiled. _All I have to do is find that machine… whatever it is that is making this nightmare our reality…_ She pounded her fist in her hand. _That's right… Today it's Amy Rose to the rescue!_

She ran down the hallway and opened a door with a button.

"Now… if I were Eggman… where would I put the nightmare machine?"

Suddenly, the door slammed behind her and a red light began to flash. "_Intruder alert! Intruder alert!_"

"Aw, darn it…"


	15. Dream Sequence

Chapter 15: Dream Sequence

"You can't fly?" Knuckles examined Rouge's wings. "I don't see anything off…"

"Ah! Knuckles! Rouge!" Sonic crashed into them.

"Augh! Sonic!" Knuckles growled.

"Hey! Run, guys! Monsters!"

"That's ridiculous, Sonic. There are no such things as monsters."

"I have to agree with Knuckles, as much as it pains me," Rouge noted.

"Then what was I just running from?" Sonic huffed, looking behind him, where there was only the landscape.

"If you can even call that running…" Knuckles looked at him skeptically. "Was that really your fastest? I guess you're not as fast as you say you are."

"I'm feeling off today! Cut me a break!"

"That's kind of how I feel, hedgehog…" Rouge flapped her wings. "I can't fly."

"This is weird… you think it's something we ate for lunch?"

"I thought Amy was supposed to be a really good cook…"

.

"Ah! That fire will cook me into Amy Stew!" Amy shrieked as she saw the fire robots coming closer… closer…

"What in tarnation?!" Robotnik appeared at the door as it opened.

Before he could say another word, Amy smashed her hammer into the robot and slid by Robotnik, outside the door. She then sprinted down the hallway.

"Amy Rose, eh?" Robotnik sneered. "I guess I'll have to deal with her after all…"

Meanwhile, Amy ran faster, faster, faster than she ever had before. "Okay… so the machine wasn't in there…" She glanced in different rooms as she passed by. There was a junk room, a computer room, a video game room, a robotic flower room. "Really, Eggman? A garden?" she laughed as she passed it by.

She felt like Robotnik's lab's hallways were miles long by the time she got to a large room at the very end of one.

"This has got to be it!" She walked in silently. Looking around the room, she began to doubt herself. Then, suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

.

"Sonic… I failed him… This time I truly failed him… Who knows where he is now?" Tails cried.

Cream patted his back. "Mr. Sonic will be alright. Don't you worry…"

"I'm sure he will…" Tails scrunched his face. "But no thanks to me…"

"I'm sure we can find him if we really look!"

"Yeah… I guess…"

The two of them headed off… forward, the only direction they could think to walk.

.

"My perception is off because of this machine. I bet it _is_ in this room." Amy walked steadily forward into the center of the empty room. "Alright…" She reached her hands out in front of her as if her eyes were closed. "I'll find it… I have to… That's the only way to save everyone…" Her toe bumped something in front of her. She grinned.

.

"Tails! Look! Look!" Cream pointed up ahead, where Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge were.

"Sonic!" Tails ran to him but stopped before getting to him, hanging his head with overwhelming guilt. "I'm so so so sorry! I really hope you weren't hurt! Oh, Sonic, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, Tails… really," Sonic tried to calm his friend.

"I really let you down… I don't know what happened!"

"Either we're all having some really bad days…" Knuckles began.

"Or Eggman's up to something!" Sonic finished.

"You really think Eggman could mess with all of our lives like this?" Rouge asked.

"He stole the Master Emerald… who knows what kind of evil he's planning with that…" Knuckles crossed his arms. "He's messed with your flight and Sonic's speed…"

"Um… e-e-excuse me…" Cream stuttered.

They didn't notice. Sonic answered Knuckles's ponderings, "Radiation! It's gotta be radiation!"

"Right…"

"Um… Mr. Sonic…" Cream tried again.

They still didn't hear her light voice. Tails spoke up, "That tornado! It was wind!"

"Yes! That's it!" Sonic cheered.

"I feel like we're forgetting something…" Tails mumbled.

"Yeah… what was it?" Sonic asked.

"MONSTERS!" Cream shrieked, pointing.

The five of them looked toward the dozen monsters coming toward them.

"H-How do you explain those?!" Tails asked.

Knuckles's eyes were wide as his fists. "Monsters? There's no way… They've got to be robotical!"

"No such luck!" Sonic began running, prompting the others to follow. But they weren't fast enough, none of them.

"What's going on?!" Knuckles shouted.

The monsters were closing in.

"We're doomed!" Tails cried.

Cream was in tears. "Help! Help us! I'm scared! Help!"

.

Amy closed her eyes and took out her hammer once again. "I love this thing," she said aloud. Then, without hesitation, she slammed it down in front of her. She heard a crash and a buzz. Opening her eyes revealed the broken down machine. It also revealed a silhouette that she would rather not have appeared.

"You little rat!" Robotnik growled. "Do you know how long it took me to make that thing?!"

"I would say as long as you've known us, because you should have known by now that all your other trinkets didn't work," Amy replied with sass.

"That nightmare machine was meant to be Sonic's end!"

"Well I won't allow that!" Amy raised her hammer.

"Oh, bring it, rodent!"

Amy swung, but Robotnik jumped back. He took one of his laser guns and pointed it at her. Before he could shoot, she used her hammer to propel herself upward and flipped into a menacing striking position and slammed her hammer down on his head, flattening him into the ground. She then gave him a good kick and ran out the door.

Suddenly, the hallway's alarm started blaring again, and a wall came down on either side of her. Soon, she got the sinking feeling that those walls were moving closer and closer to her.


	16. Waking Dreams

Chapter 16: Waking Dreams

It was sudden, almost unreal. The world was brightly colored once again, and the monsters were gone. The gang felt a bit of a headache, but besides that, everything was normal.

"What could that have possibly…?" Sonic could barely form a sentence.

"Fear," Rouge flew upward. "I noticed it when Cream was shrieking… and for it to just end like that…"

"What?"

"Sonic. What's your greatest fear?"

"My greatest fear? That's kind of deep, Rouge… I have no clue."

"Not being fast enough."

"Well… sure… maybe…"

"Mine is not being able to fly… being lost… helpless." Rouge shook her head quickly after her brief vulnerability. "Tails… your fear… is letting Sonic down."

"Yeah…" Tails admitted.

"And Cream… well… you are afraid of most things that children your age fear."

The little rabbit blushed and clutched Cheese.

"And Knuckles… your greatest fear is losing the emerald." Rouge was smiling as she said this, almost teasing.

"No," Knuckles said bluntly. "It isn't."

"What?" the four others questioned.

"But Robotnik doesn't know that…" Knuckles smirked.

"So… the answers _do_ lie with Robotnik…" Sonic murmured.

Rouge looked at Knuckles curiously as the five of them continued on, Sonic at the lead with Tails close behind. Cream hovering behind them and Knuckles bringing up the back.

"What _is_ your greatest fear, Knuckles?" Rouge finally asked.

Knuckles scowled, "None of your concern."

"Come on…" she persisted. "Can't you see I'm dying to know?"

"You'll survive."

"Hmph. You are positively stubborn."

"As are you."

"I guess that's what makes us such a good pair!" Rouge winked.

"What?!" Knuckles's face turned the color of the rest of him. "You're full of it, bat!"

"Just tell me!"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I was vulnerable for a couple seconds! Now it's your turn!"

"That was your decision."

"Darn it, Knucklehead!"

They walked in silence for awhile, far behind the others.

"I don't know what I'd do… if something happened to them…" Knuckles finally said.

"Huh?" Rouge turned to him, almost stopping.

"My fear… It isn't that something happens to the emerald… That is just my duty… my job to protect it… But I have another duty… to them…"

"Your friends."

"Yes." Knuckles seemed hesitant to say the word. "My… friends." He started walking faster, to get away from Rouge and catch up with the others.

"You're sweeter than I thought, echidna…" Rouge whispered to herself.

.

Amy tried to hit the walls with her hammer. She had been trying that for quite some time, but nothing seemed to budge. "Eggman! You'll be sorry for this! My Sonic will see what you've done and he'll… he'll…" She collapsed. "Oh Sonic! I'll never know how you feel about me!" she wailed.

She wiped her eyes and sniffed. "No, Amy…" she told herself. "No! No! You are _not_ a damsel in distress! You will _not_ be helpless here! You can save yourself… You can prove yourself… and Sonic will adore you for it!"

She stood up with new vigor, raising her hammer high. She inhaled. She exhaled. She took a deep breath and in one amazing slice, she brought the hammer down into the ground, smashing the floor below. One more strike with the hammer allowed her to fall through with little more than a few scratches. She was in a basement area, filled with junk. Skilled craftsmen like Eggman and Tails could probably make something of that junk, but for now, it was in her way.

She climbed over some piles and boxes and made it to the door, high above like at Tails's workplace. She pushed it open and stepped out into the sudden brightness of the sun.

"Amy?" Sonic was right there, with Tails, Cream, Rouge, and Knuckles. "Where have you been?"

"Did you miss me, Sonic?" Amy smiled. "I've been kicking Eggman's butt! Turns out all that stuff that was happening was due to a nightmare machine he made!"

"A nightmare machine?"

"That explains the fears!" Tails declared.

"That had to be the most successful machine he had ever made," Knuckles noted.

"Well it's smashed now!" Amy grinned from ear to ear. "Thanks to my trusty hammer!" She pulled it out to show them.

"Well, that thing _does_ pack quite a punch!" Sonic smiled.

"Well, that's where I've been this whole time!" Amy was still smiling, so happy to have told her tale.

"Honestly…" started Sonic, "I didn't even notice you were gone until you popped out of there."

Amy's face fell. "Oh, Sonic!"

Knuckles smirked and Rouge let out a slight laugh. Tails laughed out loud and Cream giggled. Amy just sighed.

"But I'm glad you're alright, Ames," Sonic spoke again. "Try not to run off like that again, okay?"

"Oh… don't worry… I'll never leave you on purpose, Sonic!" Amy snatched him up in a tight hug.

"Ah! Amy! Get off of me!"

Tails and Cream continued to giggle, and Knuckles just shook his head. "You sure you don't want her to run off again, Sonic?" he asked.

Amy gave him a dirty look.

"I'm reconsidering…" Sonic teased, prying himself from Amy's grasp.

Just like that, he broke out into a run, far into the horizon… with Amy chasing far behind.

"Some things will never change," Tails chuckled.

_**Well, Amy's story was short but sweet. I figured I'd give her some damsel turned hero awesomeness. So with that trusty hammer, she's quite the fighter. However, like Tails said, some things never change… Amy will be chasing Sonic till the end of time.**_

_**Speaking of the end, we're coming so close! Next up is Cream, who has a tiny bit of chapters (she's been sprinkled enough in the others' chapters), leading up to the major climax…**_

_**Oh, I'm not going to tell you! You have to keep reading!**_

_**(…and review!)**_


	17. Innocence

Chapter 17: Innocence

Cream still wouldn't sleep with the light turned off. The nightmare machine had taken its toll on her and, it seemed, her alone.

Everything had turned normal once again. Peace was restored, but all the while, Cream had fear in her heart.

"Cheese…" she whispered before bed. "Thank you for being by my side…"

The little chao gave her a hug in reply, then it was already dozing.

She looked up at the ceiling. The furniture in her room was casting elaborate shadows across the white paint. Each shape was different from the next. Her eyes began to close.

Suddenly, she saw movement. Her eyes shot open and she sat up. There was nothing to see. "What…?" but she couldn't finish her question. It was apparent that whatever it was, was likely her imagination playing tricks on her… again, as it often did ever since that nightmare machine. She looked over at her Chao friend. That's when she screamed.

.

Sonic's ears perked up in his sleep, ripping him out of his speedy dreams. "What?" he felt groggy, then remembered what he had heard. "Cream!" He jumped out of bed and ran towards Cream's room.

Cream rarely raised her voice past barely audible, Sonic knew. So when Cream screamed, it was usually something terrible. He bolted through her door without a knock and saw her curled up, crying on her bed.

"Cream… What's wrong?"

The rabbit grasped him and cried into his chest.

He looked around for Cheese, but could not see him. "Where's Cheese?"

Her sobs got louder.

Amy entered the room, sleepily rubbing her eye, "What's going on?"

"Cheese is gone," Sonic determined.

"What? How?"

"I… don't know…" Cream sniffled. "I just looked and… and…" She burst into more aggressive sobs, causing tears to pour down Sonic's stomach.

"Aw, come on, Cream!" Sonic tried to push her off, but she had a tight hold on his fur.

"Well, we have to find him. There's no doubt about that," Amy said matter-of-factly. She was now wide awake and toting her hammer.

"Fine. We'll go to Chao Island… that's where you guys first met, right Cream? Maybe he got homesick."

"Y-You think?" she sniffled and looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes.

"I'm sure."

.

It was no trip like Sonic had ever experienced before. Cream was the only one who has ever been to Chao Island, so Sonic didn't know what to expect. Tails brought out the travel helicopter, which sat six passengers and the pilot, and Sonic, Amy, and Cream filed in. "Fasten your seatbelts! It's a long ride to Chao Island!" Tails announced. He was excited to finally use this helicopter. With all the battles they've been in, Tails never got the chance to use something for fun. It was an innocent machine. In fact, he had made it for Cream. She always wanted to ride his vehicles.

Cream was smiling as she gazed out the window. The sky was so blue, the clouds so fluffy, and the grass so green. She loved her home, and she knew that Cheese did too. She thought back to when they had first met…

_ The tiny rabbit bounded along the shoreline, collecting shells in a small bag. She adjusted her red bow that sat atop her right ear and gazed out at the tide of the ocean. Something caught her eye in the distance. She peered more carefully. There was something out there… an island. She grinned and gasped. An adventure awaited her there! She flapped her ears as hard as she could. She had been working on flying, and finally, she was getting the hang of it. She shook in the air, teetering here and there, but she made it over to the island._

_ It was the perfect size for her, round as can be, and filled with tiny creatures the likes of which she had never seen before. One such creature flew right into her, causing them both to fall into the oddly cushy grass. She sat up and shook her head, which was covered in moss and loose grass. "Are you alright?" she asked the little blue creature. It smiled at her and did a flip in the air. "Oh, good. I'm glad."_

_ The little creature looked her up and down. It had never seen anything quite like her before._

_ "My name's Cream!" the little girl extended her hand. "What can I call you?"_

_ The blue being smiled a goofy grin._

_ "What a cheesy smile!" Cream giggled. "I oughta call you Cheese."_

_ The creature seemed to like his name, as he flipped around again and landed on Cream's head._

_ "So… this place is your home?" she asked him._

_ He wasn't minding her though, he was playing with the red bow on her ear. Soon, he pulled it right off._

_ "Hey!" Cream chuckled. "Do you like that bow?" She grabbed him and pulled him down to her so that she could see. He was holding onto the little red bow, peering at it curiously. "You can have it. It would look cute on you!" She grabbed the bow and stuck it on his neck. "Perfect!"_

_ The creature smiled and danced in the air._

_ "What is this place anyway?"_

_ "Chao Island…" a voice from deep within the core of the island spoke. It's voice was neither male nor female, and it was calming and soothing to hear. "Home of the chao's, birthplace of the Chaos Emeralds, former domain of their Master."_

_ "Wow…"_

_ So, the creatures, she learned, were chao's. They were cute fairy-like creatures that hovered about on angel-like wings. They did not speak, but they seemed to communicate through gestures and smiles._

_ Cream was mystified, but near the end of the day, she wanted to go home. "Good-bye, Cheese!" she waved to her new friend. "Thank you for showing me around!"_

_ The chao did not let her go off alone, though. It flew by her side as she started to fly across the ocean._

_ "What are you doing?"_

_ Cheese smiled his cheesy grin and floated around her._

_ "You want to come home with me?"_

_ He nodded._

_ "But what about _your_ home?"_

_ He shrugged._

_ "You won't miss it?"_

_ He shook his head and dove at her with a chao-sized bear hug._

_ "Aw, you're so sweet!"_

And that's how it had happened. It was merely an innocent meeting of innocent children. It was the start of a friendship that would last forever.

So where was Cheese? He would not have left without waving goodbye. He could not have run away back home. Something happened. Something more than the innocent rabbit could comprehend. Something sinister was happening, and she had no idea how to approach it.


	18. Inner Chaos

Chapter 18: Inner Chaos

The island was beautiful. The grass was the greenest of greens, and flowers bloomed everywhere in varying colors. Tails brought the copter down on the sandy beach and the four of them filed out. The sun shone so brightly, Sonic wished he had some sort of sunglasses. But it was a pleasant brightness, one that was not too hot. Cream looked past the shore, into the garden-like field before them. She started running to the center of the island.

"Cream!" Tails called, but she was long gone.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sonic started sprinting after her.

The whole idea was calming to them. The island was so peaceful, so innocent. Now, they had discovered a world untouched by Eggman's evil. They had discovered an island with a beautiful appearance, with a calming expression.

.

It moved deep within the island's crust. Its eyes opened wide. _Strangers_. It began to travel up, up from the core, up into the sun. _They are not welcome here._

.

Sonic laughed as he saw all the chao's floating around. "Wow! These little creatures are something else!"

"Cheese!" Cream was shouting. "Are you here, Cheese?"

Suddenly, Sonic heard his best friend mumble, "Oh no…"

He turned and looked at what he was looking at. There was nothing out of the ordinary. "What's up, Tails?" he had to ask.

"Sonic… I think I just saw a chao disappear…"

"What? You must be seeing things."

"It just… vanished."

"You're kidding!"

Tails turned to him with a worried expression on his face. "Do you think that's what happened to Cheese?"

Sonic turned to Cream, who was still calling for her chao friend. "I hope not."

"Maybe that's how chao's die… you think?"

"No," Sonic shook his head. "Chao's are interesting creatures, from what I can tell. Aren't they somehow connected to the emeralds?" He looked around. "They're separate but connected. After all, we've never found an emerald on this island."

Suddenly, there was a rumbling beneath them.

"What in the world?!"

The group was knocked off their feet. All the chao's around them seemed to start panicking and flying every which way to get away from where they were, to get away from what was coming.

"Strangers!" a voice.

Cream perked up her ears. "It's me, Chao Island! It's Cream! Cheese is my chao friend, and we came back looking for him!"

"You are not welcome here!"

"B-But… you were so inviting those years ago!"

"Cream," Sonic started, trying to stand up. "You know this voice?"

"I've always believed it was the voice of the island itself," she explained. "It welcomed me… It told me the name of this island. It was the only thing on this island that talked!"

Sonic looked around to try to find the source of the voice. "Why don't you show yourself, coward?!"

"You wish for me to reveal myself?"

"Yeah!"

"Very well."

A spray much like a geyser came right in front of Sonic, causing him to fly backwards.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

Out from the geyser came what looked like a cell. It was a large cell, with a large red center surrounded in blue goo. It also had glowing green eyes planted at the top of the round thing.

"What is that?!"

"I am the Cell of Chaos. I have grown bigger over time as I rested within the island. At first, I thought it my life to live within the island, waiting to grow from the nutrients I gained beneath the crust. However, I soon discovered that I grow much faster if I take the nutrients I need. These nutrients come from the plants, but most of all, they come from the chao's."

"You're drawing their energy?" Sonic stood up and raised a fist. "That's terrible!"

"That's my life!" the cell seemed to burst as it spoke.

"But the chao's!" Cream began. "They don't deserve this!"

"Who cares?" the cell growled. "I have been dormant for centuries, watching the chao's live about their lives without a care in the world. Then, you came along, little one, which showed me that there is a world outside the chao's. I wish to see that world! I wish to see all worlds! I wish to be free!"

"At what cost?" Sonic shouted.

"Any cost, hedgehog! Because the chao's mean nothing to me!"

Sonic charged it. He jumped up, rolled into a ball, and shot at it. It dodged quickly.

"You wish to fight me?"

"I'll do whatever it takes to set the chao's free! What you're doing is terrible! They don't deserve it! And frankly, you don't deserve to be free!" He jumped at it again, but it dodged once more.

"You are a fool, hedgehog. I am made from the energy of chaos itself. I take my life from death. From deteriorating trees and grass and flowers I absorb my power. And what are you? You are merely a creature of another world. A creature not of chaos, but of normalcy. You stand no chance against me!" With that, the cell opened its eyes wide, and green light shot from it at Sonic. Sonic was hit, but the light kept coming.

He cried out. He was now engulfed in the green glow as he floated, suspended in the air.

"Sonic!" Tails cried. He ran up to the cell and flew at him, knocking him from his shot's path.

Sonic was released and fell to the ground, groaning.

Cream was so scared watching this. Tears were forming in her eyes quickly. She looked around and noticed the trees and plants around her shriveling, dying. It seemed the sun itself was leaving, the sky turning grey. Chao's everywhere were disappearing. She trembled. "Mr. Sonic! Tails!" she cried out.

The cell had grasped Tails and seemed to be sucking life out of _him_.

"No!"

It was growing, it was getting bigger, and bigger, and larger until finally, Tails was being clutched, not by a growth on a spherical cell, but by a hand. The hand was connected to a large body standing tall on two feet, glaring at the fox with its green eyes set in front of the red brain-like organ. Its eyes lit up, and a green radiation shot out all around it, causing them all to fall back.

The Chaos Cell had become… Pure Chaos.


	19. Pure Chaos

Chapter 19: Pure Chaos

Cream had never dreamed that she would fly one of Tails's machines… let alone fly one meant for enjoyment to get out of a bad situation. But nevertheless, they boarded it and flew as fast as they could back home. They weren't retreating, not by a long shot. But Sonic and Tails had taken some bad hits, and they knew they had to regroup. Surely Knuckles would help them, and possibly Rouge.

The bunny landed hard on Angel Island, bringing the attention of the red echidna. "What in the world is all this ruckus?!" he stormed toward the machine.

Cream ran out, distraught, and ran to Knuckles, pummeling him with tears and sobs. She had no other way to express her words, so when Amy came out, Knuckles had no choice but to ask her what was going on.

"Chaos!" Amy declared.

"Chaos?" Knuckles looked back toward the emerald. "That explains it…"

"Explains what?"

"The emerald has been flickering, sending out such a light and screech I thought it was trying to speak!" He looked back at Amy. "Where are the others?"

Amy gestured to the copter, where Tails and Sonic were laying. Sonic was conscious, Tails was not.

"What happened to them?"

"Chaos!"

The five of them were now around the Master Emerald. Knuckles had his eyes closed and his hand on the emerald, which was flickering like a screen. It was transmitting a vision of what had happened at Chao Island. Surely, the Master Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds, and this creature, Chaos, along with the chao's were connected. Once he saw all that happened, he opened his eyes and put a hand on Tails and a hand Sonic. "Master Emerald… take their stolen power back and give it to its rightful souls." The green glow appeared around each of them, and suddenly they were able to breath better, as slowly and steadily, their life power returned to them.

"Alright, that's it!" Sonic jumped right up. "How do we beat that thing up into next week?"

"Cool down, Sonic," Knuckles groaned, annoyed. "You need to rest."

"No. I don't. Not now, not ever, until we beat it down!"

Tails was still sitting, his mind deep in thought. "The chaos emeralds!" he spoke up suddenly.

"What?" Knuckles turned to him.

"It's obvious that all of these elements of chaos are connected… the chao's, the cell, the emeralds… We need to collect the emeralds to stand a chance against it!"

"Tails is right," Sonic nodded.

"We'll need my tracker…"

"And a treasure hunter or two…" Sonic eyed Knuckles.

"You're an idiot to be running back into battle like this."

"What would you rather do… sit and wait for the battle to come to you? Oh wait, you _do_ do that already!"

"Stubborn fool!"

"Coward!"

"How dare you?!"

"Stop!" Cream shouted. They stopped and stared, shocked at Cream's outburst. "Cheese is still gone… We need to defeat the Chaos monster… Please, Mr. Knuckles… will you help us find the emeralds?"

Knuckles crossed his arms. "Fine."

"Then here's the plan…" Tails sprang up. "Hurry to my workshop first!"

.

The group got a hold of Rouge and they all gathered in Tails's workshop. While they had hunted for the treasure hunter, Cream and Tails were working hard on something. "Here!" the fox passed out an earpiece and a watch.

"What exactly are these for?" Rouge asked.

"We're going to split up to look for the emeralds. When we find some, we'll let each other know. When we collect all seven, we'll be ready to return to the island."

"Sounds like a plan, Tails!" Sonic gave a thumbs-up. Then, he burst out the workshop, running far as he could go. "Testing… Testing…" The others could hear his voice on their earpieces.

Tails spoke into the watch. "Good luck, Sonic!"

.

"All seven have been collected!" Tails cheered.

"Time to head back?" Sonic asked.

"Yep!" Tails answered.

"Alright! Be seeing you guys!" they could practically hear him give a thumbs up.

.

"Um… guys…" the voice was Sonic's. Sonic had the orange emerald, the only one that the group didn't have at the moment.

Rouge tapped her foot impatiently. Cream looked up at her cautiously, and Knuckles snarled a little. Amy was sitting on her hammer.

"What's up, Sonic?" Tails spoke into his watch.

"I see it."

"You see what?"

"Chaos."

"WHAT?!"

The whole group perked up.

"Get out of there, Sonic!" Tails called.

"I can't. This is it, guys. You think you can make it over here where I am?"

"Where is 'here'?" Rouge asked.

"A little north of Angel Island."

"Don't be a fool, Sonic!" Knuckles shouted into his own communicator. "Just come back here with us!"

"Is it fun for you to disagree with everything I say? Just get over here!"

"We'll make it as fast as we can, Sonic!" Tails said optimistically.

"You're all fools…" Knuckles groaned.

Suddenly, a blast came from Sonic's communicator.

"Sonic!" Tails gasped. "What was that?"

"It saw me!" The group could hear the wind speeding by as Sonic ran.

"Now will you come this way?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming, knucklehead!"

Another blast.

"Augh!"

"Sonic!" Tails started taking off running in his direction. The others didn't hesitate to follow. "We're coming, Sonic! Hang on!"

"Your friend will be no more!" the creature could be heard from Sonic's watch.

Another blast, then, nothing.

Tails stopped short, "Sonic? Sonic! Answer me!"

The group waited. There was not a word from Sonic's end.

Tails screamed into the watch, "SOOOONIIIIIIIIC!"

Rouge winced and pulled out the earpiece from her ear. "Tails, stop. He's gone."

Amy didn't speak a word, she just collapsed to the ground and sobbed.

Tails was crying out as Cream tried to hold him up. The tears kept coming, "No! It's not fair! It's not fair! I… I… I failed him…"

"Stop it, Tails," Knuckles spoke harshly. "Stop saying that you failed him. You didn't. He was foolish!" Knuckles's face was hard. "He was a reckless fool! Just like always!" He tightened his fists and mumbled, "I say good riddance."

Tails and Amy stopped sobbing and turned to him for a minute. Rouge looked away, but Cream studied his face. It was hard, unemotional, unchanging. "You can't mean that, Mr. Knuckles…" she tried.

He looked at her, his eyes completely clear, his mouth turned to a scowl. "I'll be with the Emerald." He walked away.

"Well then good riddance to you!" Amy shouted at him.

"What now?" Cream asked.

.

_**Nooo! A tragic end for everyone's favorite hedgehog? Could it really be? Is this the end? Well, I'll tell you that it isn't the end of the story. The only way you can find out what happens next is to hang in there for the next chapter! I know… the suspense is killing you, isn't it?**_

_**Well… As Cream so delicately put… "What now?" The answer to the cute little bunny's question is…**_

"_**Review, please!"**_

_**Next, come the individual character-centered chapters!**_


	20. Cream of the Crop

Chapter 20: Cream of the Crop

With a heavy sigh, he peeled off what was left of the communicator watch. He was about to pull out the earpiece when he heard something: "Tails, stop. He's gone." It was the voice of Rouge. He could hear her clearly, but he could not respond. He looked again at the crushed watch. "No! It's not fair!" He heard his best friend cry.

"Tails…" he whispered. "I'll find you guys… I promise." But Sonic was lost. He had been blasted so far from the others that he could not tell which direction was home. "Somehow…"

"…good riddance." That was Knuckles.

"Did he just say…? I can't believe that knucklehead!"

He heard the angry cries of Amy, then a soft whisper, "What now?"

"I'll find you guys… that's what… I'll do what I can to find you…"

.

Cream leaned against the doorframe. Her eyes were still crusty from dried tears. She sniffled, then walked slowly to the workshop. She grasped the metal handle of the door leading underground and pulled. The door did not budge, for it had rusted over.

"How long has it been?" she sat next to the door. "How long will it be?"

.

_"Where are you going?" the little rabbit looked teary-eyed up at the pink hedgehog._

_ "I don't know…" she turned to go. "I just have to go."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "My whole life was about _him_, Cream. I have to find _myself_ now."_

_ Amy was the last one left. And now she was leaving as well._

.

They promised to stay in touch. That's why Cream left the watch on. She still had some hope in her heart that they may return home. _Home_. What a funny word. It had comfort in it… or at least it was supposed to. But for Cream, it had loneliness.

And fear. She knew that Chaos was still out there. How could the others leave like this? Rouge had left because… well… as far as she was concerned she had never really been a part of the group. Amy wanted to "find herself" sure, but couldn't she find herself here? And Tails… Cream tried the door again, getting more and more frustrated, crying out and collapsing in front of the door. Cream had no one. She couldn't even turn to Cheese. She was alone and afraid, and no one could possibly help that.

.

Sonic ran up and down cliffs, hills, and even mountains to try to get a good view. If he could at least see Angel Island, he'd know that his home was right below. But clouds were too thick, or else he was too far. He kept running. It was the only thing he knew how to do in situations like this. _When in doubt, just keep running._ He used the orange emerald, the emerald of earth powers, to prop himself up on a pillar of rock. _Am I still north of Angel Island? Which way is south?_ He tried to look up at the sun, but the sky was grey as it had been on the Island. Chaos was still out there. He just hoped he could find his friends before it did.

He knew they had separated. He could hear every word through Cream's watch. Every tear the young bunny cried wrenched his heart into his throat. He kept running, kept searching, traveling as far and as fast as he could.

.

Cream had finally forced the door open. She hopped down into the workshop. It smelled musty and was dark. She turned on a lantern and peered around at all the machines. _Tails…_ "Tails…" Her sobs started again.

.

_ It was as if his very soul was ripped from him. He just sat there, staring out the window ever since that day. He never set foot in the workshop again._

_ "What's the point?" he asked her. "What could I possibly do?"_

_ "Build a machine to destroy the monster?"_

_ Tails was quiet. "What's the point?"_

_ "Mr. Sonic would want us to go on! What makes you think that such a fun-loving and caring guy would want you to be so sad!" but as she said it, tears were flowing down her cheeks. "Tails, please! Do something!"_

_ He did do something. He went off on his own. It was for the best, she supposed. He had spent his life working with Sonic, following him, going on his adventures. Now, he is finding his own path, his own way._

.

Cream climbed back out of the workshop. Perhaps that would be the only safe place for her now. Who knows where Chaos was? She knew that it would come for her eventually. She clutched the green emerald that she had, the only thing left for her to hold onto. "Cheese… I wish you were here with me…" she whispered to herself.

Suddenly, there was a crash. She hopped high in the air from fear and looked around when she landed. When she looked up, she saw the clouds become darker, and she began to feel rain as it fell on her.

In all the time that the sky was grey, it had not rained yet. She smiled. Perhaps it was renewing rain? She heard the crash again. This time she screamed. She was no longer smiling. It was a thunderstorm.

.

"A storm!" Sonic perked his ears as he listened to the rain and thunder. He looked around in every possible distance from the highest height the orange emerald allowed. He peered in the distance, and, to his relief, he saw storm clouds. "Here I come, Cream!"

.

The bunny jumped down underneath the rusted doors into Tails's workshop. She shivered and cried. When she sat down in a corner, she tried to think of fonder memories, but none were coming to mind. All she remembered was how people kept leaving.

.

_ "Well… as much as I'd hate to leave all of you… I have my own life to live," Rouge was saying to them. "I was never a true member of this team, anyway."_

_ "Sure you were, Ms. Rouge!" Cream tried._

_ "Not really." The bat winked. "I'm sure we'll meet up again sometime."_

_ And she was the first to leave the house._

.

Not really the first to leave, though, Cream remembered. She tried to picture Knuckles's face when she asked him if he had meant what he said. It was solemn, serious, still. As far as she could tell, he _did_ mean it.

She trembled and sniffed. What was she supposed to do? Everyone had left her alone. She was alone. She was doomed to be alone for the rest of her life. Why had her friends abandoned her?

Suddenly, there was a bang. She jerked her head up. That was not thunder. Had Chaos found her?

Another bang as the door was pulled open. She could hear the rain pouring onto the workshop floor. She slid backwards, deeper into the darkness of her corner.

She only saw a shadow jump down and close the door.

It whispered, "Cream?"

Cream held her breath.

"Cream?" the figure turned on the lantern.

Cream gasped.

Sonic continued whispering, "It's me…"

Cream didn't know whether to believe her eyes. Was this a trick? Was she dreaming? Was this really a very realistic-looking Metal Sonic?

"Cream… it's me, Sonic…"

The lantern didn't quite reach her corner, so she was still out of sight.

"I know you guys think I'm dead… but my communicator was broken. But I heard you guys… I heard you… and I heard the storm and followed it…" He smiled, "You helped me find my way back home, Cream. Thank you."

There was no longer any doubt. Cream stood up and took a step into the lantern's light. "Mr. Sonic?"

Sonic turned and saw her. He winked. "In the flesh!"

She ran to him and jumped into his arms. "Mr. Sonic! You're alive! You're alive!"

"Yeah," Sonic winced a little. He was still a tiny bit sore.

"How?"

"I'm just _that _good!" He gave a thumbs-up.

Cream giggled.

"What do you say we find the others?"

"Of course!"

And the two of them set out when the rain settled down towards the direction that Cream last saw someone go. They would search now… for Amy.


	21. Rose Among Thorns

Chapter 21: Rose Among Thorns

The robots kept coming. They varied in shapes and sizes. Some even varied in color, having a little bit of paint on them. None of them were a match for the hammer of justice. At least, that's what Amy Rose told Robotnik as he kept sending them out.

She had gone to the shadow of Angel Island, where Dr. Robonik's new lair was being built. She didn't want him to be successful in building it, so she charged in with her hammer high above her head. She was facing the robot guards for now but was also slowly making her way into the lair's foundation.

It was a long and narrow hallway leading to an intersection of equally long and narrow hallways in the shape of an X. The hallways met at a large circular area with a room between each hallway for the different robotics and technology Robotnik would be working on. Upstairs, which had not yet been built, was Robotnik's living area: his bedroom, his kitchen, his living room.

Amy made her way down the hallway, but to her surprise, it was filled to the brim with traps. The first one she saw was a set of spikes that almost fell on her head the moment she set foot in the building. However, it made quite a bit of noise and was easily dodged.

Having escaped the first attempt on her life, she feared the others. "Well…" she told herself. "This is Robotnik I'm dealing with, not some clever villain." She shouldered her hammer and continued to walk down the steel-rimmed hall.

.

"How did you survive, Mr. Sonic?" Cream was literally bouncing beside him as he walked. "What happened out there?"

"Chaos got a hold of me," Sonic began to explain. "It blasted me with some odd red power. That's probably what you heard. When it happened again, I shielded with my arms and what I could quickly muster from the emerald. So, my communicator broke in pieces. I was knocked to the ground with the earth on top of me. I can only assume that Chaos thought I was dead, so it left. That's when I got up and heard you all talking about how I was 'gone.' I knew I had to find you all." He didn't really mean all of them, they both knew. Knuckles had lost that privilege, if he had even wanted it. "And I've been running around frantically since."

.

Amy was running away frantically. A spiked wall was coming at her at full speed down the passageway. _This is insane! _ _Since when is Eggman so ingenious?_ She sped up her run. She had been running all her life before the incident, but she hadn't run since. She tried to pick up speed, but she was becoming tired. _I can't keep this up… I have to find a way out._ She started searching around for just a small dent in the wall, something she could squeeze in to avoid the spikes that were coming ever closer.

Suddenly, she thought of something. "Eggman isn't clever at all! He's actually rather stupid!" She smiled and stopped running, turning to face the blades. She readied herself, then jumped up on one of the spikes' smooth sides, holding on to the others around it. She rode the wall down the hallway, until reaching the end, which held only a door.

She sprung off the spike and ran at the door with her hammer, knocking it down and running through to the center room.

"Well, well, well…" a voice growled. "If it isn't Amy Rose!"

"Plan's over, Eggman!" she held out her hammer to him.

He turned to meet her gaze. "What do you want with me, Amy?"

"The usual… You to stop terrorizing animals with robots!"

"Now, now. We both know that's not true."

"What do you mean?"

"I know what you're truly after…"

.

"What is Chaos after?" Cream asked.

"Life energy… that's all we know." He looked at his emerald he held. "Say, Cream… don't you have an emerald?"

She held up the green one.

"Strange… Chaos is obviously not after the emeralds. But why? Wouldn't that be another thing it could absorb?"

"What it absorbs has to have life energy. Chaos emeralds are not alive."

"Good thinking, Cream! That must be it!" Sonic looked around where they were going, searching for any trace of Amy. "I guess Chaos was just after us because we were in its way… But now… it can roam anywhere… I wonder where it is…"

"I don't want to know…" Cream shuddered.

.

"I know the truth, Amy Rose. You're trying to fill a void. A void that, frankly, cannot be filled," Robotnik's tone was sarcastic, sneering. He even laughed. "Whatever will you do without someone to annoy? Find someone else, that's what!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Amy lied, trying to hold back tears.

"Face it, Amy! You don't know what to do with yourself."

"Shut up!" She swung her hammer.

"Smashing my robots, breaking and entering, running off on your own… Please…" Robotnik shook his head. "I can read you like an open robotics manual."

"Oh yeah?" Amy blinked away tears. "Read this, Eggman!" She ran at him and swung, but he easily dodged such an obvious move.

"You end up alone, Amy, just like you've always feared. Funny how Sonic was the glue that kept you little rodents together."

"You don't have the right to say his name, Robotnik! You're just a cruel, stupid, evil old man!" The tears finally left her eyes. "And what about you? Aren't you just as angry?" she tried, starting to smirk through her tears. "Angry that you weren't the one to finish him off?" Amy's heart twisted as she said the words, but she knew they would affect Eggman.

They did. "You've got a lot of nerve!"

"You're building this lair of traps and thorns… but there's no one to come through and try to stop you… no one but little ol' me! And you hate that!" She tightened her grip on her hammer. "You hate that Sonic was too clever for you! You hate that _I'm_ too clever for you! You're a failure, Eggman! You always will be!"

Robotnik growled and picked up a remote. "Robots! Destroy her!"

Robots came at Amy from all angles, but she was ready with her trusty hammer. One by one they were hit down. One by one they were smashed to pieces or hit into each other. One by one Amy got through them all, and she walked angrily toward Robotnik.

.

"I wonder what Eggman's up to…" Sonic thought aloud.

"Dr. Robotnik?" Cream said. "I haven't seen him lately."

"He's probably still building pieces of junk."

Cream giggled. She loved having Sonic back. The days, even with the rest of the gang, had been so dark, so gloomy, without him.

"Speak of the devil…" Sonic pointed ahead of them. There were a bunch of robots, but to their surprise, most of them seemed smashed and on the ground. Then, they saw why. "Amy!" Sonic gasped. "She's holding her own against Eggman!" He watched as her steady walk turned into a jog, then a run, then a sprint. She jumped up and pounded him with her hammer.

"Oh, and another little present for you… since I know you love the emeralds so much!" she lifted up her red chaos emerald and it shined, causing the hammer in her hand to ignite. She spun it around her, causing Robotnik to fly off, on fire, into the distance. "That'll teach you, Eggman!"

Sonic and Cream had gotten close enough by now to see the half-finished building and Amy kicking robots aside to walk away.

"Until next time, Eggman…" she sighed. "In the meantime…"

"…you can relax, Ames," Amy recognized that nickname. She snapped around and her eyes grew wide. "Yeah, it's me. Just don't—"

Amy ran to him and squeezed him tight, tears running from her eyes like waterfalls. "Sonic! Sonic! Oh, Sonic! I can't believe this!"

"—crush me…" Sonic finished, strained. He shrugged and returned her hug.

"Oh, Sonic! How? Why? When?" She finally pulled away and wiped her eyes. But she quickly hugged him again. "I thought… I thought…"

"I know." He returned this second hug. "But I'm fine. I promise."

"What about Chaos? Is it destroyed?" she asked him, pulling away again.

Sonic shook his head, turning serious. "No… not in the least."

"What's going to happen to Mobius if it's on the loose?"

"I don't know. That's what we have to find out… once we get everyone back together."

"So… how do we find the others?" Cream spoke up.

"I… don't know…" Amy stated with regret.

Sonic put his hands on his hips, "We'll have to just keep moving… searching everywhere for anyone we can find. We'll get the group back together. We have to… before this Chaos can be dispelled."

"Actually…" Amy started, "I may have an idea of where to find Tails."


	22. Miles Away

Chapter 22: Miles Away

Tails opened his eyes to the bright sunlight of the noon. He sat up and yawned, still set beside that lake he had found. It was a peaceful place. The frogs croaked as they hopped around the water, and fish were silhouettes within it. Tails pushed back the tall grass growing in one area and pulled out the blue and yellow emeralds. He clutched both of them so tightly as he thought about using them again. He had never lashed out in anger before, and it felt good to use the emeralds to make a terrifying storm. He started to lift the blue emerald, as he had a couple days ago, but he stopped. The sky behind it was such a bright, beautiful blue, he couldn't do it. He slowly lowered the emerald. It wasn't like him to lash out anyway, but what could anyone expect?

.

"Where are we going, Amy?" Sonic complained for the fifth time. "Are you sure you know where you're going? Are you sure you know where Tails is?"

Amy groaned, "I don't _know_, Sonic. I've just been _guessing_."

"WHAT?!" Sonic stopped walking. "You're kidding!"

"Hey! We wouldn't have this problem if you had just kept a hold on his emerald tracker!"

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry. It was so stupid of me to let it get squashed by Chaos! I should have guarded it with my life!"

"Um…" Cream started, interrupting their argument. "We could go to Tails's workshop and get the ones _we_ had."

"Oh, yeah! Of course!" Sonic perked up.

.

Tails flew up to the top of a tree nearby and looked up at the sky. He could see Angel Island. Part of him wanted to go there. Besides Sonic, Knuckles had been such a big-brother figure to him since he joined the group. But it didn't seem right to stare so longingly at Angel Island. Not since hearing what Knuckles had said. He turned away. He should have just stayed with Cream and Amy. _Cream._ "I'm sorry, Cream… I shouldn't have left you guys…"_ I thought running away would solve everything… I'm just a stupid kid!_ He buried his face in his hands and cried for this next consecutive day in a row since it happened. _I was never any help to anyone… _"You're better off without me anyway, Cream… Trust me… I'm no good to anyone… I couldn't help you…" _I could barely help Sonic… And… I failed him… I could have flown to him… but I failed him…_

.

"Tails is going to be okay, right?" Sonic asked suddenly as Cream opened the workshop door.

"What do you mean, Mr. Sonic?" she inquired.

"Well, you know Tails… He tends to… over-exaggerate things… to think he's always failing me… And now…"

Cream looked at him cautiously. "Before Tails left… All he did was stare out the window. All he did was… nothing. It was…"

Sonic nodded. "We'd better find him." He grabbed hold of the tracker and saw four emeralds displayed. They were grouped in pairs. "Rouge…" Sonic pointed. "She's got to be the closer pair of emeralds… that's her secluded cave."

"It's closer… should we first go there?" Amy looked over his shoulder.

"No. Knowing Rouge, she's probably not there. Just her emeralds and other jewels."

Cream bit her lip uncomfortably. "We've got to find Tails!"

"Cream's right. He needs to see I'm okay."

.

Tails had never been able to rest peacefully. He had never been in the sun for so long for one thing, and he had never spent more than a half hour not concerned with starting or finishing a project. He closed his eyes and felt himself smiling. Was he really happy? It was becoming hard to breathe. Cream was right. Sonic would want him to be happy. He tried to hold his smile, but it faded as he fell asleep on the tree branch.

When he awoke, he awoke to a darkened but starlit sky. A thin strip of a crescent moon hung high above. Tails walked under the stars, feeling hungry and missing Amy's meals. He held his stomach and walked along the lake. He saw a few fallen logs nearby, and the wheels in his head started turning. He smiled and started using the emeralds as blades to strike at the wood. He was creating a new project… After all this time, he was finally working again.

.

Sonic had never before felt rushed. He ran fast all the time, but not for the reason of needing to hurry, just for the fun of it. But now, he felt like he needed to get to Tails as fast as he could. Cream and Amy struggled to catch up with him, so he had to slow down every now and then and, to his horror, completely stop. He tapped his foot. "Come on, slow pokes!"

"Not everyone has Sonic speed!" Amy huffed.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Tails is fine," Cream assured him.

.

Tails was now using the flat end of the emeralds as a hammer to hammer some wooden stakes he had created into the wood. He made himself a small raft. He placed it in the water and jumped on, sitting at the edge so that his tails could propel him across the lake. He smiled and laughed as he zoomed across the water. "Sonic!" he laughed. "Check this out! I wish I had come up with something cool like this with you! This is so fun!" It was a little more old-school, being made completely from wood instead of robotics, but he enjoyed himself nonetheless. He got weak though, mainly from hunger. He lay down on the raft and looked down into the water, licking his lips at the sight of the fish. He tried to snatch one with his hands, but they were fast and slippery. He then used the blue emerald to control the water. He brought a sphere of water above the pond, catching two fish. Using the yellow emerald, he struck them with a shock from the emerald, cooking them through. He ate them right there on his raft.

.

The morning was only beginning as the orange sun rose over the lake the trio saw up ahead. The dawn reflected on the indigo of the lake. But there was something else they saw. Silhouetted in the center of that lake was a figure floating on a tiny raft. As the three approached and the sun drifted higher into the sky, they began to make out the gold fox and his two tails.

"Tails!" they all realized at once.

Tails was beginning to wake and sat at the edge of the raft to use his tails to zoom off away from the group.

"Come on, guys!" Sonic ran toward the lake so that he could begin to run across it. Amy and Cream followed right behind him. Cream flapped her ears to fly over the lake, carrying Amy with her.

Tails, meanwhile, had reached the end of the lake and started off toward the east towards a few trees, where he had spotted a few apples. He flew up and grabbed one. He sat on a tree branch once again and ate the apple as he closed his eyes. "Sonic…" he was saying, unaware that this time, Sonic was in earshot below him. "I'll miss you. But so long as I can… I'll be happy. I'll be just like you were, Sonic… I'll carry that on for you. I'll come back now to Amy and Cream. I'm sorry I ever left them."

Sonic smiled. His friend was okay. Cream smiled too, as she heard the last part. "Don't worry, Tails," she whispered, startling him. "We're fine."

"Cream!" he stared at the little bunny, who was flapping beside him. "What are you doing way out here?"

"Looking for you!" she said cheerily. "Both Amy and I… oh… and him too." Cream pointed down toward Sonic, who waved up at his best friend.

When Tails saw him, he nearly fell from the tree. "Sonic?!" He flew down to him, to get a closer look. "But how?"

"I was never dead, buddy," Sonic shrugged. "I'm too good for that. You should know that." He winked. Tails still stared at him.

Amy grinned beside them, "Surprise, Tails!"

"I can't… I…" Tails's tears were coming back up.

"Come on, bud," Sonic held out his hand and took Tails's. "I won't be leaving you that easily."

Tails was smiling so wide while tears trickled down his face. "Sonic!" He hugged him, crying into his chest happily. "Sonic!"

"Let it out, bud. It's gonna be okay." Sonic looked down at him crying there.

"Tails! You started building again!" Amy pointed out the raft.

Tails, still clinging onto Sonic, looked up at her and nodded.

"I'm proud of you buddy," Sonic told him. "You were moving on… You were doing great."

Tails looked up at him and smiled.

"So… should we search for Rouge, or is it not worth it?" Amy asked.

"It'll be nice for her to know I'm alright," Sonic shrugged. "I'm sure she's worried… in her own way."

"Alright!" Amy punched the air. "More adventure time!"

"Let's go to Ms. Rouge's cave," Cream suggested. "She'll be sure to return there eventually."

The rest of the group agreed, so they started off toward the cave.


	23. Rogue Rouge

Chapter 23: Rogue Rouge

She was alone. She had started alone. She had been used to being alone. She liked being alone. So why did she feel so lonely? Lonely was not the right word, or at least that's what she kept telling herself. Maybe she just felt regret leaving them because they were so… helpless. Then again, they had been fine before they met, so what's wrong now?

She flew silently out of her cave as the sun moved higher in the sky. She didn't understand what she was feeling. Before she had met that group, she had been completely happy. She was no longer a thief, she realized. _That's what it is. I need to return to my… _hobby_. Now… where to strike first?_

She had already seen the most valuable jewels in the world, the chaos emeralds. And she couldn't help but remember what she had learned when Catnap had tried to obtain the emeralds and their Master. Knuckles had told her that greed had overcome her old friend. Greed was a powerful thing. It could turn even the gentlest of animals. She didn't want to fall into that.

She stopped midflight. This made her remember suddenly something else Knuckles had told her. Something hadn't sat right with her ever since the incident. When Knuckles spoke against Sonic, she looked away, mainly because she was ashamed for him. She knew he couldn't have meant what he said. He had told her his greatest fear. He had told her he wouldn't know what to do… if something happened to his friends.

She knew she had to go up to that floating island. She had to see him. She had to let him know that she knew the truth. He cared. And it was probably tearing him up. He had alienated himself from the ones he cared about. But she knew why. He was angry, not necessarily at Sonic, but at the whole situation. And that's what he expressed.

There was no longer a hesitation in her heart. She immediately flew up to Angel Island as quick as she could. She couldn't wait any longer. She didn't want to be too late.

.

Sonic was leading the way toward the mountain that housed the cave. Amy was right behind him, and Cream was behind her. Tails was at the end of the line, farther back from the group. Ever since he had seen Sonic, he had been experiencing a mix of emotions. Right now, he was all nerves. He jumped at the smallest sounds and he was timid to speak, so much so that he did not say a word as they traveled along.

"You alright back there, buddy?" Sonic asked him a couple times, to which he just nodded.

Tears were starting to return. He felt afraid. He stopped walking, which Cream noticed. "Mr. Sonic!" she called.

He turned and saw Tails, who was staring at the ground.

"Tails… you okay?" he approached.

Tails suddenly ran to him and hugged him.

"Why don't you walk with me for a while?"

Tails was ashamed of himself. He felt even more like a stupid child. He felt like a child younger than even Cream. He shook his head and walked back to where he was.

"Tails…"

But he wouldn't budge. Not until they started off again.

.

She was too late. Angel Island was deserted. Rouge stepped quietly across the stone resting place of the Master Emerald. But neither the emerald nor the echidna guard were there.

_Should I look for him?_ _ Should I even bother? Maybe he doesn't want to be found. Why bother? He left for a reason. Maybe he'd rather be alone than with those he claimed to care so much about._

.

They were now climbing up the mountain. Tails was using his tails to fly up, as Cream used her ears. Cream was helping Amy along, as she wasn't quite strong enough to lift her completely, and Tails offered his help to Sonic. "Nah, that's fine, buddy," Sonic told him. He got a good running start and ran up the side of the mountain.

Tails watched him as he zoomed uphill. _He doesn't need me. He never needed me. They were all right… I can't fail him… because he doesn't even need my help. I'm just a helpless kid._ He gloomily landed in front of the cave next to Sonic.

"I didn't want to use up your energy when I got my own, bud!" Sonic said cheerily.

"Yeah… I know…" he mumbled in reply.

"Tails… Are you okay? Tell me now, buddy! I want to help!"

"I'm fine."

"I don't believe that, Miles," Sonic tried to sound serious by dropping the nickname.

This surprised Tails, and he looked up. "Sonic…"

"Yes?"

"I'm just a kid. I've never done much good that you guys couldn't do on your own…"

"Are you kidding, Tails? You're a genius!" Sonic assured him.

Tails shrugged.

"No one else could match your prowess with robotics! Not even Robotnik himself! You may be a kid, Tails, but you're a kid genius! A prodigy! A hero!"

Tails tried to hide his oncoming smile. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"It's true, Tails."

"It is!" Amy came from behind him and patted him on the back.

"I'm the kid in this group!" Cream chimed in.

"Everyone has their strengths to share," Sonic nodded to the little rabbit. "That's why we can't be split up like this!"

"You're the glue that holds us together, Sonic!" Amy noted, remembering Robotnik's words.

"Yeah… but I don't know why. We're a team! We've got to stick together! Whether or not there's one of us unavailable."

Rouge heard this last part as she landed at the edge of her cave's cliff.

"Even though Rouge doesn't think she's in our little dysfunctional family, she is!" Sonic winked.

"We need everyone!" Tails agreed.

"Everyone?" Rouge spoke up behind them.

They turned.

She smiled at Sonic. "It's good to see you're alright, hedgehog. I should have known you'd live through that." She passed them by and went in her cave to grab her chaos emeralds, the purple and the grey.

Tails smiled, "Looks like all the emeralds are in order… finally."

"Not quite, fox boy. We're still missing one." Rouge looked at him. "Do you truly believe what you just said?"

"What?"

"That we need everyone."

"Of course!"

"Then, if I'm not mistaken, there's one more in your little group. Someone that was in your group before I came into the picture."

The others knew to whom she was referring, but they refused to mention it. Finally, Sonic spoke up, "I heard what he said about me! We don't need someone like him!"

"I'm sure you heard," Rouge agreed. "And we all witnessed it and saw him walk away. But one thing remains to be known."

"And what's that?"

"Whether he meant it."

"Oh, please!" Amy groaned.

"Hear me out." It was then that Rouge proceeded to tell the group what Knuckles had told her when that dreadful nightmare machine was running. She concluded by telling them that he and the emerald weren't up at the island. "I'll be frank. I've got a bad feeling, Sonic." She examined their reactions. They seemed genuinely concerned.

Sonic looked at the others then asked, "Why do you have a bad feeling, Rouge?"

"Knuckles was angry, Sonic. What do you think he's going to do? What do you think he probably already is doing?"

Cream gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. She knew. "He's looking for Chaos!" she stated.

Rouge nodded. "Alone. And with only the Master Emerald."

Sonic sighed. "Knucklehead…"

"Still," Amy crossed her arms stubbornly, "he shouldn't have said that about Sonic!"

"Honestly, he _was_ a fool," Rouge shrugged, looking at the blue hedgehog. "Knuckles was right. You should have gotten out of there before Chaos saw you." She paused. "Not to mention, you got into a fight with Knuckles before all this, didn't you?" she noted.

Sonic hung his head. "Yeah… we do that a lot."

"So we _are_ looking for Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked.

"Yeah… hopefully _he_ isn't being a fool…"


	24. Rap Knuckles

Chapter 24: Rap Knuckles

It had been awhile now since it happened. It had been awhile since he returned to Angel Island with as much anger as he ever had. He had gone immediately to the Master Emerald, placed his hand on it, and closed his eyes, commanding it to show him what had happened. It showed him barely anything before he got the picture. Chaos was still out there, and Knuckles felt duty-bound to find it. He had commanded the emerald to show him where it was, which wasn't hard for the mighty Master to do. That's how it started. It had been awhile.

It had been awhile since he found Chaos. It had been awhile since he, with the Master Emerald behind him, viewed it walking along a path, draining the life out of the plants around it. He had not wasted a second and ran down to it. "Chaos!" he had shouted.

It turned to him and actually replied, "Well, well. The Master Emerald itself. I trust you are its guardian?"

"That is none of your concern, monster!" Knuckles shouted. "You should be more concerned with the fact that you're going to pay for what you've done!"

"All of this life, I am gaining so much potential! You cannot stop me, just as that blue rodent could not stop me!"

"You know nothing of Sonic!" Knuckles growled under his breath. "I'll avenge what you've done to him! I'll kill you!"

"With just that little gem?"

Knuckles would hardly call that emerald little, but he noticed that with each life Chaos took, it gained more size and, likely, more strength.

"You are quite connected to the emerald, aren't you?"

Knuckles didn't respond, he was not pleased that Chaos was acting like this was no big deal.

"Unlike that group that came to Chao Island… for they had no connection to the emeralds… no connection… to chaos."

Knuckles finally realized what Chaos was implying. Knuckles was connected to _it_.

"We are connected, Master guardian."

"I will not claim a kindredship with you!"

"Oh, but we are kin… and therefore… you are a powerful source of life energy, just as the chao's… just like the life on Chao Island… just as the life here on Mobius… forever connected to the Master Emerald."

Knuckles took a step back. Chaos had him right where it wanted him.

It had been awhile.

.

"Tails… think you can make this thing pick up a trace of the Master Emerald?" Sonic asked.

"What about me?" Rouge asked. "I can sniff out that emerald from miles away."

"Right! I almost forgot we have a treasure hunter with us!" Sonic gave a thumbs up. "With your expertise and Tails's machine, we'll find Knuckles in no time."

Tails hurried to work. This time, he was working for Knuckles. He wouldn't want to let him down any more than he would want to let Sonic down.

.

"Master Emerald! Assist!" the echidna would not give up. Each time Chaos brought him down, draining him with that green fog, he merely had to call upon the Master Emerald to dispel it. They were at a stale mate. Neither was giving in. Neither would give up. Neither wanted to face defeat.

Chaos could get no power from Knuckles so long as that Master Emerald was there. What it realized is that that emerald was all that was standing in its way. It focused a red blast from its eyes straight at the emerald.

The first time this happened, Knuckles jumped up in front of it, collapsing to the ground. The second time, it hit the emerald straight on, shattering it to its many pieces.

"No!" Knuckles looked back helplessly at his only protection from the monster. His only weapon was destroyed. It had been awhile.

.

"Uh… Sonic…" Tails stuttered.

"What's up, Tails?"

"We may have a problem…"

They looked at the screen of the tracker. "Why are there so many dots?"

"It's the Master Emerald."

"How? Shouldn't it be one huge dot in one place?"

"Sonic… I think it's shattered…"

Sonic's eyes grew wide, "No…"

"We may already be too late," Rouge predicted.

.

Chaos had Knuckles in its blue goo hand. It leered at him with the green eyes, draining energy painfully. Knuckles was crying out, much to Chaos's pleasure. "That will teach you to try to strike me down! I am more powerful than you can possibly imagine! Know this now as I've got you in my grasp! You're quest ends here!"

Knuckles had tried digging the spikes on his knuckles into the goo, but it had no effect. He struggled, he shouted, he growled, he huffed, but he could not break free. He could not destroy his enemy. His quest really was ending.

It had been awhile since then.

.

The group could do nothing but pick up the pieces of the Master Emerald. They were sure once it was restored, it could lead them to its guardian… maybe.

"How do you put this thing together?!" Tails cried desperately.

"I think Knuckles is the only one who can really restore the Master Emerald," Sonic determined.

"There's got to be a way to find him!"

"Mr. Knuckles!" Cream cried out.

"Hush, Cream!" Rouge shushed. "We don't want to attract any unwanted attention."

"Wait… all the pieces… they were in a half-circle of sorts…" Sonic started.

"All around a certain area… the area where it was destroyed!" Amy finished, realizing his train of logic.

"Exactly!" Sonic started running toward where the center would have been. The others followed a bit farther behind with each step he took. "Knuckles… I'm coming for you buddy…"

.

It had been awhile, so Chaos had left a while ago. Knuckles was lying lifeless on the dead grass. Sonic tried to shake him awake. "No! We can't be late! You still have your duty to the emerald! Knuckles! Wake up, buddy! You've got to wake up!" Sonic tried shaking him more. He would never have imagined that he would be so desperate for Knuckles to be alive, not after what he said.

The others caught up with him, prompting an incredible thing to happen. The pieces of the Master Emerald lifted into the sky right above Knuckles. They brought themselves together and the gem shone, restoring the life around them. The grass was once again green, flowers of all colors bloomed, and Knuckles began to wake.

"Thank goodness!" Rouge sighed under her breath.

Cream began hopping up and down.

"Knuckles!" Tails grinned.

Even Amy was happy.

Sonic helped him stand up, unbeknownst to Knuckles, who was gathering his strength. "What the… What are you all doing here? What just happened?"

"We're here for you, Mr. Knuckles!" Cream continued hopping.

"But I thought…"

"You can't hide from me, Knuckles," Rouge winked. "Oh… and I thought you should know… you're not rid of Sonic quite yet."

"Huh?" It was then that Knuckles realized someone was holding him up. He looked back at Sonic, who was grinning goofily. "S-Sonic?"

"Back from the dead, bud!" He was still grinning.

"Sonic… I… I thought…"

"I know… you all did. But you won't be rid of me that easily, Knuckles. Even though you seemed to want to be."

"Sonic…" Knuckles was completely dumbfounded. He could barely think, let alone talk.

"As touching as all this is…" Rouge started. "Don't we have a problem to solve?"

Knuckles snapped out of it. "Chaos!"

"Yeah…" Sonic furrowed his brow. "We're all in now guys. You all ready?"

"We're a team, aren't we?" Cream was the first to put her hand on Sonic's.

"Are we?" Knuckles asked.

"You bet, knucklehead!" Amy grabbed his hand and put it in, putting her other hand on top to keep it there.

"Well, you know I'm in!" Tails added his hand.

"And so am I," Rouge was the last to place her hand on top.

"Alright… who knows how strong Chaos has gotten by now?" Sonic realized.

"Who knows where it is?" Rouge asked.

"I guess we're gonna go for a little hunt!" Tails's eyes lit up. "And I've got just the machine!"

.

_**Sorry about the cliché-y-ness of the "hands in the middle"… It just had to be done.**_

_**Okay, so the individual character chapters weren't exactly individual… but it's hard to write one person without dialogue or anything, and frankly, Sonic had his story to be told too.**_

_**Next time, it's the last chapter of the story! So stay tuned… Oh, and there's going to be a sequel that includes Shadow, Blaze, and Chaotix Detective Agency (Charmy, Espio, Vector). So stick around for that as well! Thanks for reading! Enjoy the last chapter! Review!**_


	25. Perfection

Chapter 25: Perfection

Tails revved up the engine. The machine was brand new. He had made it before all of this with Chaos happened. Now, he would finally use it. The chaos emeralds were stored in separate segments of the cabin, one place for each, designated for a certain element. Even the Master Emerald had a place. The six of them went inside. They each had a segment. They each had a seat. They each had the opportunity to fly separately. Even Amy could figure out the controls on her part of the machine.

"Alright, team!" Tails called. "Ready?" He had gone way beyond his previous self-doubt. Sonic smiled proudly at him, but he didn't notice. "Let's go, guys!"

They shot off at top speed. With the help of the emeralds, they were able to find Chaos with ease. As soon as they did, they split off. Per Tails's orders, they circled the monster, who had indeed grown to a great size. Knuckles took his cue to call upon the Master Emerald. "Master Emerald! Hear my call! Use your power to help destroy this beast!" The Master Emerald in his segment began to shine, charging a beam at the front of his vehicle. The beam blasted Chaos, bringing it down to the ground.

Tails activated his electrical emerald, and caused a net of electricity to cover it. Sonic took his cue to use earth and fire. The earth brought a rockslide from thin air onto the creature, and the fire was used to make the boulders covered in flames like meteors. Chaos began to rise despite all of these attacks on it.

Rouge then activated her emerald, shooting down a pressure from straight above the monster. It came to its knees again as the radiation pushed and pushed.

Ready with a combo, Amy activated her water emerald while Tails used the grey one. A swirling whirlpool of water pummeled the beast.

It was effective, but not enough so. Chaos was still standing.

Cream shuddered in her part farther away. _It's too strong…_ she thought to herself. She looked around at her control panel. She had been given as much as the others, and she knew how to work it, but she knew that the group did not expect much from her, being so young. She furrowed her brow. _I'm not going to let that stop me from saving Cheese!_ She activated her emerald, the green one. A spiked plant came from her machine, shooting itself at Chaos, wrapping him in a thorny trap.

"Way to go, Cream!" Tails cheered.

But Chaos had had enough. He looked straight at the bunny, and from his eyes shot a beam of red. Cream screamed and tried to pull up. Suddenly, Knuckles flew in front of her and was shot critically. His machine started spiraling down to the ground, with an unconscious driver.

"Mr. Knuckles!" Cream cried out.

Sonic zoomed toward him, not really sure of what he would do if and when he reached his falling friend. Tails activated the wind emerald again to slow Knuckles's fall. His piece of the machine was sparking and smoking, completely damaged by that single blast. Sonic got out of his machine and waved away the smoke as he grasped Knuckles from the wreckage and pulled him out. "Knuckles, you alright?" he asked.

Knuckles struggled to open his eyes. "What are you doing here… get back out there!" he groaned.

"No way, buddy." He went back in the machine and grabbed the Master Emerald. "I can help from here, anyway. He grabbed the chaos emeralds from his own machine and stayed with Knuckles. "Don't worry, Cream!" he called up to the crying rabbit. "He's alright!"

Meanwhile, Tails was circling the monster, who had been trying to hit him with a red shot. Rouge was trying to use the pressure of the purple gem to hinder Chaos, but it barely had any effect. "We're fighting a losing battle," she snarled.

"Not quite!" Amy activated a button on her machine that brought out a hammer arm. She sped towards Chaos at high speed and slammed the hammer into it while it was distracted with Tails. Tails took the opportunity to blast it with an electrical orb of energy from his machine.

Chaos growled, "You have made a grand mistake taking me on so futilely!"

"Futilely?" Amy asked. "It looks to me like we're pretty successful."

"You're merely landing blows. You are not as powerful as you feel… and now… you will feel _my_ true power!"

The glob began to transform from the giant humanoid form into a giant figure. It was like the huge head and neck of a dragon, with sharp teeth between which strung blue goo. Its eyes were still green, but now had black pupils within them. In addition to the neck and head, it had four tentacles that each grabbed one of the ships floating around it. "Witness my perfection! I am Perfect Chaos!"

"Guys!" Sonic called from the ground.

Knuckles struggled to his feet, "Master Emerald! Release its hold!"

The emerald shone and pulsed. Then, Perfect Chaos's tentacles let go of the team, making them fall into a crash landing. Perfect Chaos, they could see, was rising out of the ocean that separated Chao Island from Mobius. They were on the beach, gathering together in their group.

"If you ask me," Sonic started. "I think it's time for Plan Double S."

Tails looked at him, "Are you ready, Sonic?"

"I've _been_ ready, buddy!"

"Then I guess I can't argue with Plan Double S!"

"Be careful, Sonic!" Amy grasped his hand.

"Please do, Mr. Sonic," Cream looked up at him.

"Ha! Don't even worry about it. My SuperSonic powers just about make me invincible!" He patted Cream on the head, "And I'll make sure Cheese comes back to you, Cream, by destroying this Chaos thing once and for all!"

"Well, you've got me convinced," Rouge shrugged. She held out her chaos emerald. "Use this precious jewel well, sugar."

Sonic nodded, then they all held up the chaos emeralds, which Sonic let gather around him as he jumped up. He floated in the air as the emeralds circled him in their rainbow glow. Then, he transformed, turning gold all over, his quills rising up. It was as if energy was radiating from him. He flew up above Perfect Chaos, then dove downward, spinning into a ball at the last moment and shooting right into its nose. The force of SuperSonic brought its head down into the rest of it, causing it to fall back into the water.

"Sonic!" Tails called. He knew his friend couldn't swim.

"He's fine, Tails," Knuckles assured him.

Sure enough, Sonic flew up out of the water, high above the tide. Soon, Perfect Chaos brought its head out and opened its jaw. Sonic spun into a ball once again and then unsnapped, pushing forth a golden ring of radiation, undoubtedly containing all elements of the emeralds. The ring went into Perfect Chaos's mouth. It fell again into the water. Meanwhile, Sonic dove down, fist first, into the creature. With a great splash, the monster 'popped', and out popped every chao it had taken.

The group could see the life returning to the island and to Mobius. Sonic landed back on the ground and returned to his natural blue. The chaos emeralds spread out once again across all of Mobius.

"You did it!" Amy cheered, running to hug him.

"Alright!" Sonic gave a thumbs up.

"What a battle!" Rouge smiled.

The team was circling around him.

"Cheese!" Cream smiled and reached her arms to her chao friend. He dove into her, and she hugged him tight.

"Well, I better get started on fixing all the damage to our Team Machine!" Tails lifted a wrench.

"Take a break first, bud," Sonic insisted.

Tails smiled sheepishly and put the wrench away for now.

"I'll be with the emerald," Knuckles started.

"Don't be a stranger, echidna," Rouge winked.

"I was going to say you guys can call on me when you need me."

"We know," Sonic extended his hand. "Same with us, buddy."

"Thank you," Knuckles grasped his hand and shook it.

"Or if you ever want a freshly cooked meal," Amy added.

"Or someone to just talk to!" Cream bounced.

Knuckles nodded.

"You are all quite a team," Rouge noted.

"You can't be a stranger either, Ms. Rouge!" Cream pointed out.

Rouge laughed. "Definitely!"

"We _are_ a team, guys," Sonic told them all. "Never forget that."

And, for now, the six of them went their separate ways, ready to return to each other in a moment's notice. Because that's what friends are for. The sun set on another normal and peaceful day on Mobius. But while peace settled, Robotnik planned a new strategy to defeat his enemies. And Sonic watched the sunset, knowing that the group and each of them have grown, but still had yet to become even greater heroes on Mobius.

_The End _

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